by C. M. Owens
It’s hard to focus on the conversation at hand, and the words she’s saying are getting distant, distorted, and harder to concentrate on.
“Chaz? Do you think that’s a good idea?” she asks, her words slicing through the thickly muddled thoughts.
Is what a good idea?
“I don’t know,” I tell her, evading a direct answer and telling her my head is fuzzy right now.
Something isn’t right with me.
“Obviously they had other powers than just night stalker powers, but how? Immortals don’t become demons. They get lost in the spirit realms when they die. Only humans become true demons,” she’s saying, and I grunt out an agreement or acknowledgment or something.
“But they used spells and cast barriers. How?” she drones on, then starts trying to fill in the blanks herself when I don’t respond.
Her words become lost on me completely. My skin is almost crawling. I don’t know if I need to fight or fuck. Staring at Kya’s ass as she hikes through the woods isn’t helping the latter urge.
Even shirtless, I feel like I’m burning up. Immortals don’t get hot or cold. So why the hell am I on fire?
I actually look down the length of my body to make sure I haven’t accidentally set myself on fire
Kya doesn’t turn around or notice that I’m struggling. I catch a glimpse of her soft, full lips still moving, but the drumming inside me is too loud to hear anything else.
We’ve been walking through the damn woods for hours. My cell has no signal. Neither of us have the magic to make it have signal either. I have no fucking clue where we are.
I can tell she’s weak and in need of feeding, but there aren’t exactly any tainted souls around here to steal, considering we’re in the middle of nowhere. For miles and miles, there’s been nothing but woods.
I’ve never used that much magic when transporting. I was furious, panicked, and half ready to explode when Kya demanded we go. I didn’t want to leave Ella, but the beast inside me couldn’t let anything happen to Kya. It recognized an urgency to take the girl I’ve barely met with me, and for some reason found it acceptable to leave behind the girl I’ve loved like a niece all these years.
The beast is ruling right now, even though the transporting power is Lokie instead of dragonite. The beast needs a motherfucking leash.
Logically, I knew Kya could dematerialize and save herself. I knew she was perfectly capable of survival all on her own. So why did I grab her and transport blindly? Because my instincts are more in control than I am.
I could transport now, but Kya genuinely doesn’t need to be traveling that way at the moment. Her body isn’t used to it, and I’m not sure how dangerous it is. It always leaves Mom exhausted after I take her too many places.
And I’m worried about getting lost without Kya if I try to go on my own and come back. I don’t trust myself or my powers at the moment.
Grumbling under my breath, I look around aimlessly. That burst of energy I used could have propelled us half way around the world for all I know. I’ve never used that much before, and I’ve always moved slow through the transports so as to keep track of where I am.
And Kya thinks I’m a motherfucking idiot for not knowing where we are. Though she’s not saying it aloud.
I am a motherfucking idiot.
She bends over in front of me, adjusting the leg of her jeans, and I bite back a growl as my eyes lock on her ass. As she straightens, I shake my head, inwardly cursing the one-track-minded animal within me.
Adjusting myself in my jeans, I force my eyes away, and I stop breathing through my nose. Her scent is killing me, and she’s definitely not aroused. She’s actually focused on what’s going on instead of getting mounted by an out-of-control abomination.
Groaning to myself, I pick up the speed, deciding to get upwind of her and out from behind the view of her ass. As I pass her, I take a wide berth, careful not to touch her.
“There has to be signal eventually,” Kya says from behind me, not noticing how tense I am as I hurriedly take the lead, using my night vision.
I wish I couldn’t hear her again. Even hearing her voice is like a shot straight to my cock.
“I’m sure there will be.” My voice is too gruff, almost not sounding like me at all. Shit. What the hell is happening to me?
“Are you okay?” Kya asks, sounding genuinely concerned.
“Yeah,” I lie, grimacing over how much different I sound. My voice is deeper, darker, and definitely rougher than usual.
“You don’t sound okay,” she says, her footsteps quickening like she’s trying to catch up.
If she touches me or gets too close, I might do something I can’t stop. I don’t trust myself enough right now to know my limits.
Speeding up, I put more distance between us, moving faster and faster as she tries to gain on me.
“Chaz! What’s wrong?” she calls out, proving she’s closer than I can handle.
My skin crawls more, and the predator in me demands I turn around and chase her instead of running. I’m battling instincts I didn’t know existed as I force myself to put one foot in front of the other.
Heavy heartbeats thud in my ears—mine and hers—and I can hear her breaths, taste her frustration, and feel her presence like a taunting beacon. My vision brightens the more the hunter within me is fought.
I focus all my energy on staying in control. I never should have taken her with me. This is too much. I have no idea what she’s doing to me. Or even if she’s doing it. The beast inside me may be getting too much control, and I can’t help but wonder how long I can fight it off.
Just as I emerge into a small meadow, my eyes land on what appears to be an abandoned hunter’s cabin, given the setup and location. There’s no sign of anyone having been here for years, unless my new and improved vision is deceiving me.
I swallow down the knot in my throat as I stalk toward it. It’ll be a good spot to lie low until morning. I need away from Kya, so there’d better be a room with a motherfucking lock.
Not that a damn lock can hold out an immortal.
This is hell.
Chapter 10
KYA
Chaz ignores me, and I frown as I follow behind him, rushing to catch up. A small clearing is what I’m greeted by suddenly, and my lesser vision tries to take in all my surroundings.
A flash of blond hair is all I see before I notice the cabin Chaz is disappearing into.
What is he doing?
I’ve tried to be a trooper since we landed in the middle of nowhere, never once complaining, but I’m exhausted. Most immortals can go a few days without sleep, but my mortal half requires sleep daily. Technically I’m still immortal, but I do have some mortal restrictions.
I almost dance for joy when I realize we’re done walking for the day.
Warily, I head inside. Chaz didn’t say a word before ducking into it. And he’s acting weird. Also, he’s ignoring me. Which I guess factors into the weird thing.
He’s the one who forced me to come with him, like I was a damsel in distress who couldn’t dematerialize out of the pit. I wasn’t bothered by that until he started acting like he regretted it all of the sudden.
Jackass.
My eyes scan the house as I walk in. The floor is dingy and rotting in some places. The cracks in the boards show a bit of dirt underneath. The walls are also wooden, rotting, and allowing moonlight to skitter through the cracks between planks.
Dust has gathered over every surface. I wish I had the ability to wave my hand and make it clean. Unfortunately, that’s not in my list of abilities.
“Chaz?” I call out carefully, eyeing the gross set of moldy-black dishes in the haphazard waste bin called a sink.
He doesn’t answer, but I hear some odd sound coming from behind a closed door. Is that growling? Is that Chaz growling?
“Chaz?” I ask quieter, slowly lifting my hands in defense, worried about the curses spilling from his lips on the other side.
Did a demon slip inside him? I can’t tell unless I try to take over his body.
No, no. He has anti-possession markings, and he’s much too strong for a demon to take over.
I’m still stumped as to how they used wiccan powers. No way were those witch spirits that somehow managed to pass from the spirit planes to here. I felt the presence when I was inside that guy. I felt the dark, twisted, purity of the evil. I know a demonic presence when I feel one.
Something crackles across the sky, sounding suspiciously like thunder. Slowly, I make my way to the door, hoping it is something so mundane and not the crackle of power because we’ve been tracked.
Wind stirs loudly, and I look up as the sky opens up and begins to pour rain. Another crackle of thunder is accompanied by a streak of lightning in the distance.
I shudder with relief while closing the sad excuse for a door. It’s crooked and barely hanging on by the one hinge that hasn’t rotted off.
Blowing out a breath, I walk back to the sealed door, but something crashes on the other side of it, like glass breaking. A dark, vicious, deafening roar fills the cabin, rattling the weak walls and sending me diving to the ground, drawing my knees up as all the glass from the windows shatters in unison.
My heart hammers in my chest as I leap up from the ground, sliding through the front door that is now hanging ajar, apparently blown open from the... whatever in the hell that was.
I roll off the porch, staying low as something bright blazes through the air. My heart kicks my chest harder as I crawl, trying to remain silent. Rain drenches me with its unrelenting downpour that is at full speed.
Just as I reach the back of the cabin, my eyes lock on that streak of light, realizing it’s a fire burning so bright that the lines of it are almost white.
Chaz.
He’s standing there, his entire body shaking as his hands explode with pent-up power. His eyes are wild, wide, and determined. I can’t tell if he’s out of his mind, or just in dire need of release. I thought he was tired, like me. Apparently he has too much energy.
I watch in awe as he continues to unleash a small portion of himself into the world. He looks strained, intense, and... lost.
Something about that lost look is what breaks something inside me. It’s a reflection of how I’ve felt since the day I was taken.
I was born for the purposes of being used. I was never born to be loved or cherished. I was planned with the sole intent of being prodded and tinkered on.
Lost is an understatement of how I feel.
Cursing myself for being an idiot, I push up to my feet and wipe away the wet hair from my face. “Chaz!” I yell, fully prepared to dematerialize if I have to.
The fire stops immediately, and his eyes cut to mine. That lost look slowly fades, and a new emotion replaces it.
My breath catches as his body turns to face mine, and the twenty feet between us suddenly disappears when he’s right in front of me in less than a blink. I barely have time to register the action before he’s slamming me against the wall of the cabin.
My body thuds against the creaking wood, and then he’s on me, his lips crushing mine in such a surprising maneuver that I don’t react at all. His tongue rakes across the seam of my lips, and they part as though he commands them.
He growls deep in his throat, pushing against me harder. My eyes roll back in my head when I taste how incredible his—
No. Hell no.
My hands are on the firm skin of his chest, and I start pushing him away, ignoring how a small part of me seems to protest the action. As my mind and body war for dominance, Chaz grips my leg, jerking it up until it’s on his hip.
I gasp into his mouth when he suddenly grinds against me, and I feel every rigid inch of his—
“Chaz,” I mumble against his lips, trying and failing not to respond to the way he’s touching me. My brain begs my mouth to protest, but my lips decide to just continue to allow the sensual assault instead.
There’s not a sane, rational reason why I should be kissing him right now. While we’re lost in the woods with no cell signal. While we’re running from a horde of unknown demons who’ve managed to form their own night stalker army against all logic.
So why do I kiss him harder when he grinds against me again?
When I moan into his mouth, I’ve already given up trying to be logical. I can’t ever remember feeling like my soul was on fire. Never has my entire body been so desperate. Never have I wanted something like this so fiercely.
Chaz lifts me, pulling me forward and slamming into the wall again. He’s as wild and out of control as I feel, and that could actually be deadly for me.
Every decision I make right now seems to be lined with an extra dose of stupid as I wear the lust goggles and let them lead me into the darkness.
“Tell me to stop,” he says against my lips, even though there’s not an ounce of conviction in his words that gives me pause.
“I wish I could,” I answer honestly, sucking in air when his lips start trailing down my neck.
The rain pelts against us, but neither of us gives a damn. I reach up and grab his wet, blond hair, clinging to him as he blazes a trail over my skin with his demanding lips.
He starts undoing the button on my jeans, and I shift, giving him better access. Thunder crashes in the distance, but I barely hear it as my heartbeat pounds louder and louder.
Just as he gets my jeans undone and starts to slide them down, his head snaps up, and a growl bubbles from his chest as he glares at the vacant air beside us. Disoriented and confused, I follow his gaze.
Lights blare brighter and brighter. Headlights, I realize.
Chaz clutches me as he shifts his body, taking a protective stance as he moves me behind him and slides his arm behind him to tug me against his back. Fire forms around his free hand, and I grab it without thinking.
The fire slides over my hand, not burning it, and my breath catches in my throat for a new reason as I stare, fascinated.
The flames lick across my flesh, but it feels like a caress rather than abrasive. Chaz’s breath also hitches as he looks down, seeing my fingers flex within the flaming orbs around his hand.
His eyes flick back to mine, but he cuts his gaze away as the roar of a powerful engine suddenly screeches to a halt, followed by two more.
“Chaz!” I hear a guy shouting.
Chaz’s body relaxes, and the fire disappears from his fist, but I don’t miss the flicker of disappointment that crosses his eyes when he looks back at me again. He turns and leans toward me as someone else shouts his name, and my eyes remain locked with his when I’m not blinking against the rain.
When his fingers brush the skin of my stomach where my shirt is still pushed up and glued to my body by the rain, I lean into him. He mutters a curse while redoing the button, and I lean back, swallowing down the embarrassment from mistaking his action.
He’s redressing me instead of undressing me. Right. Obviously it would be stupid to just continue mauling each other now that there are people who’ve found us.
“We’re here,” Chaz says back, not looking away from me as he retreats a small step.
Another car sounds off from behind us, and I whirl around as Slade slides across the grass in a large Hummer. I never saw a road, so I have no idea how they all got over here in their vehicles.
“Kya,” Slade says, climbing out of the Hummer as he opens the back door.
Chaz’s gaze flicks to Slade, and I struggle to join the man who has saved my life countless times.
What is wrong with me?
A wild tangle of blonde hair draws my attention. I see Slade emerge from the Hummer again with a limp Ella in his arms. Chaz moves, going to Slade, who meets him halfway.
Slade eyes him warily, and Chaz eyes him with just as much caution. The two predators tense, sensing each other, waiting for the other to make the wrong move. Instead, Slade thrusts Ella toward Chaz, who snatches her away and backs up several steps.
�
��What’d you do to her?” Chaz growls.
“Saved her life and kept her from killing anyone. You’re welcome,” Slade says with a bored drawl. “Kya?” Slade prompts, then turns and walks back to the Hummer.
Ella stirs in Chaz’s arms, whispering Slade’s name, and I arch an eyebrow when I see Slade tense all over as though he heard it. Instead of turning around, he gets back into the Hummer.
“Kya!” he snaps, no longer patient.
“You don’t have to go with him,” Chaz tells me, even as he holds another woman in his arms.
Seeing her there, seeing the others walk around the side of the house, I remember this isn’t where I belong. I’m still lost. I was only temporarily left with a sense of belonging, and then the illusion was shattered.
It’s a foolish desire that should be holstered anyway—wanting to belong. We’re supposed to be in survival mode, after all.
Instead of speaking, I turn and walk away, climbing into the passenger seat next to Slade. He gasses the vehicle without a backwards glance, and I sit back, staring out the window as he drives through the field, heading straight for the woods.
A small trail is near the back, and he shoots right through it like it’s a road.
“How the hell did you get all the way out here? I’ve been tracking your phone all damn day,” he says, driving faster. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw where you were.”
“Is Ella okay?” I ask instead of answering. I don’t even know where we are anyway.
He snorts derisively. “The princess is just fine.”
“How do you knock her out?”
“I’m stronger than her. She can’t control her power, so she leaves herself exposed when she’s using too much of it.”
“She hit us but not you,” I point out.
“You’re deflecting, Kya,” he says, still driving through the small trail like it’s meant for a large vehicle.
Limbs scratch against the sides as I lean back, letting the paint of the vehicle scream against my ear.
“How’d you get this far out? Is he what I think he is?”
