by Nadine Mutas
He retreated into the shadow of the tunnel, and waved toward the stepladder leading up to the trapdoor. “You need to leave.”
“What I need,” she said, closing the space he’d just created between them, “is to know your name.”
Something akin to panic pulsed underneath his skin. He set his jaw, straightened his shoulders. “No. Go home.”
She stepped closer still, her chin raised in that stubborn way of hers, a determined glint in her eyes. “I have been haunted by your image for more than ten years, feeling like I know you when we’ve never even spoken a word. Tell me your name.”
Her voice slid like rough silk over his skin, the timbre earthy and perpetually too husky for a girl her age. He’d always loved to hear her talk, from his vantage points in the distance. And now—for the first time—she was talking to him. She’d remembered him. The realization shouldn’t have been such a thrill in his blood, but fuck if some part of him didn’t preen with the knowledge.
“Please.” The whispered word stroked over him, snuck past all his defenses and into places inside that had shriveled long ago, tugged on parts of his soul he’d long thought dead. She brought them back to life.
His mouth opened to tell her his name, but he caught himself, shut it and clenched his jaw so hard it hurt. He had to stop this, nip whatever crazy idea she had of getting to know him in the bud. Considering the destructive potential of the secret he kept from her, knowing him would inevitably lead to disaster. He couldn’t afford to taint her. Not her.
Glancing down to where the weak tunnel lights faded into the darkness leading to the underground grid, he sidestepped, careful not to brush her. He didn’t trust himself—touching her might have disastrous consequences. Like surrendering to the urge to shove her against the rough-hewn wall and claim those lips that promised to taste like heaven. She had to get the fuck out of here, before any denizens of the subterranean city below Portland ventured close. If the demons found a witch in one of their tunnels, she wouldn’t live to tell the tale.
He gestured at the exit to the basement, again. “For the last time: Leave.”
“No.” Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she widened her stance, gave him a level look. “I want some answers. Who are—”
She broke off at the creaking noise of the hinges on the trapdoor.
In the second it took her to gasp in surprise at the demon coming down the stepladder, Thorne had her flattened against the tunnel wall, his shadow cloaking wrapped tightly around them both. He covered her mouth with his hand, whispered in her ear. “Quiet.” His demon ability would mute sound to some extent, but a loud noise from inside the shadow could be heard on the outside.
Emerald eyes wide, Anjali gave an infinitesimal nod. Her hot breath brushed the top of his hand, quick at first then slowing down as she brought her breathing under control. Her skin was as soft as he’d imagined, inviting a man to linger, to indulge in lazy strokes, losing himself in decadent fantasies. Pressed tight to him like he’d dreamed a thousand times over, her unexpected contact, her closeness, wreaked havoc on his equilibrium. His body hardened at the hint of what it would be like to be skin-to-skin to those curves, to have her wrapped around him in wanton ecstasy.
His own breathing, calm and controlled until now, became fast, erratic. Losing to the selfish need inside him, he kept his hand on her mouth a lot longer than necessary, reveling in the heat of her lips against his palm. He was, after all, only demon.
After an indulgent moment, he grabbed her hand—which she’d raised to face-level when he’d shoved her against the wall—the skin contact necessary in order to keep her within the cover of the shadow. With utmost effort, he tore his gaze away from those eyes the color of a peacock feather’s rich green. Her pupils had dilated, darkening the iris, whether with fear or another visceral reaction—one he’d have trouble resisting—he couldn’t tell.
He looked over his shoulder at the exit to the basement, muscles tensed, as the female demon descended, her reptile skin and night-glow eyes giving her away as a member of the shedim species. She scanned the tunnel, blind to the witch and erebos hidden in the shadows. Not for the first time in his life, Thorne was infinitely grateful that his cloaking ability also worked on other demons. He’d move Anjali out of the tunnel and back into safer territory as soon as the female passed them, even if he had to haul his witch over his shoulder to do so.
The female sheid was about to walk past them, but a shout from behind her made her pause. Thorne froze. Dammit.
Swiveling on her heel, the sheid faced the male demon coming down the stepladder. She spit out a few choice words in the shedim language. The male answered with something equally growly. Oh, goodie, Thorne thought drily. A lover’s quarrel. And wasn’t it just his luck that it blocked his and Anjali’s escape route?
While the two shedim continued to argue, he glanced down the tunnel, calculating how far he’d have to take Anjali into the underground grid for an alternative exit. With his witch in tow, he could forget about dropping by Conor’s to get a new assignment. He’d have to come back later, after he’d made sure Anjali was safe and sound at home. Or at least not traipsing around on demon ground anymore.
The exit to his building wasn’t too far from here. He ground his teeth. Might as well.
Taking advantage of the loud tirade of the female sheid to cover the sound, he leaned forward and whispered in Anjali’s ear, “Move with me. Watch your footsteps. Don’t make a sound.”
The shadow demon’s breath a hot caress at her ear, Anjali closed her eyes for a second, surrendered to the shiver running down her spine, spreading languid heat into feminine places. Good gods, she really shouldn’t find being pinned by a bulk of lethal demon so sinfully…seductive. Especially considering only a few feet and the shadow cloaking separated her from a pair of aggressively arguing demons. The situation warranted caution, a cool head, and a healthy sense of self-preservation. And yet, her insides had turned all tingly the second her dark protector had shoved her against the wall, his body hard, his heat a wild embrace.
She nodded at his instructions. With her invisibility spell broken and her initial plan compromised, she’d had to think fast and regroup. Since she couldn’t spy on him from the cover of her charm anymore, the only way to get to know him was…to get to know him. So she’d charged straight ahead, determined not to let him slip away into the night. She’d tail him like a hunting dog if need be. He wouldn’t hurt her—he’d had a million chances to cause her harm over the past couple of years, but he’d only ever protected her.
“Now.” A murmured command from her erebos, the strokable silk of his hair brushing her cheek as he stepped just far away enough to let her walk with him.
Moving along, she breathed in his unique scent—that of rain-kissed earth, laced with the aroma of books. Books. She wanted to groan. Of all the scents in the world, the shadow demon she’d been obsessing over had to smell like a cozy bookstore. Naturally.
He maintained his tight grip on her hand, the gesture oddly romantic even though it undoubtedly wasn’t meant as such. She studied the shimmering field of energy surrounding them both, its visual effect similar to that of her See-Me-Not charm, only…darker. Understanding dawned. He needed to touch bare skin to include someone in his shadow cloaking.
He steered her down the tunnel in the opposite direction of the exit to the basement, leaving behind the two fighting demons. Wait. They weren’t fighting anymore, they—
“Ew.” The squeaked sound of disgust slipped out before she could stop herself.
Her own personal demon bodyguard sent her a reprimanding frown.
“Sorry. It’s just… I need bleach. For my eyeballs,” she whispered against her palm, her hand covering her mouth in an attempt to stave off the wave of nausea. Two reptile-skinned demons getting it on had just shot up to the top of her list of Things No One Should Ever Have To Witness.
The erebos glanced over his shoulder. His eyes widened. He whipped his hea
d around to the front again and shuddered, walking faster. “What has been seen cannot be unseen,” he murmured, so low it barely reached her ears.
Anjali missed a step, a smile blooming inside her at his statement.
Only after they’d rounded a corner, putting more space between them and the busy couple, did she dare speak in hushed tones. Not that the two scaly demons would have noticed, considering they made loud noises reminiscent of cats coughing up hairballs. “Was that—did they have tails?”
Her shadow demon nodded, his face becoming impossibly whiter.
“What did they—how—with the tails—”
“Don’t.” His grimace said he’d just swallowed a bucket-full of snails.
“You know,” she whispered, “this brings back unfortunate memories of the dinosaur porn I read last year.”
He stopped so abruptly that she bumped into him. Taking a step back, he stared at her. “Why would you—how even—” He shook his head. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
Her face flashed hot as if seared with lava. “Wait, no, it’s not what it sounds like. There was this big hoopla about dino porn books on Twitter last year, and Maeve—my best friend—she dared me to read one, so we did it as a buddy read, you know, to laugh about it together.”
“Hold up.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “There are actual, real books about dinosaur porn?”
“Yep.”
“Is it like, two dinos together?”
“Uh, no, it’s mostly a human woman getting it on with a dino. Or two.”
He just stared at her.
“Lost the ability to process?” she asked softly.
Her poor shadow demon nodded, his expression blank.
“It’s okay.” She patted his arm. “It was hard for me too. Took me several months to get the visuals out of my head.”
He shuddered.
A scraping sound from farther down the tunnel made them both freeze. In a split second, the erebos pushed her behind him with the hand that was holding hers. Heart beating a frantic tattoo against her ribs, she grabbed the fabric of his hoodie with her other hand to steady herself. He stood with the lethal ease of a feline predator, tension a soft hum underneath his calm stance, his gaze fastened on the source of the sound.
Five seconds later, an animal the size of a cougar stalked down the tunnel. Its unnaturally long legs moving in a way that was just wrong, it crawled closer. The dim lights illuminated what appeared to be a thick fur-less hide, reminiscent of a rhinoceros’s skin. The beast opened its mouth, equipped with rows of sharp teeth that would be any shark’s envy. It halted right in front of Anjali and her demon. Sniffing, it swiveled its head toward their hiding spot.
Dread ran through her limbs like an icy draft. Pulse thundering in her head, she held her breath.
The shimmer of the shadow cloaking around them intensified, the air blurring on waves of dark energy. Breathing calmly, the erebos stood in front of her with the cool yet alert composure of an animal trainer facing a tiger. If his hand holding hers hadn’t trembled the tiniest bit, she never would have guessed his anxiety.
The rhino creature sniffed one last time then shook its head and growled, trotting on.
Once it was out of sight, Anjali released her pent-up breath on a quiet exhale, muscles quivering from the adrenaline letting up. “Gawds,” she whispered, leaning against the demon’s back with her forehead.
He whipped around, his hand on her throat. Ice-blue eyes burning with a cold fire, he caught her gaze. “This is why I wanted you to leave,” he said, his voice a hushed snarl. “You were foolish to follow me here. Reckless. Do you have no care for your life?”
She sucked in air at the intensity of his anger, at the raw emotion written on his face. His hand circling her neck should have been threatening in nature, a gesture undoubtedly meant to intimidate. And yet, his grip was beyond careful, gentle even. If he had the slightest intention of hurting her, the protective charm she wore would repel him in a heartbeat, breaking his hold and giving her a fighting chance. The charm’s inactivity belied all efforts of intimidation on his part.
“I’m not as defenseless as you think,” she whispered. “I came here with an invisibility charm that fooled even you, remember? If it hadn’t broken in the fall, you’d still have no idea I was here. And neither would any of the other demons around. Plus, I have a bespelled necklace for protection.”
He dropped his gaze to the thin chain around her neck. His jaw set in a hard line. “Those kind of charms are single use. Say you get attacked, the charm protects you but doesn’t take out your attacker. The charm’s depleted.” Eyes the color of winter skies met hers. “And you’re as helpless as a kitten.”
Holding his challenging gaze, she unobtrusively activated the mechanism that slid the dagger she carried in a wrist sheath down into her palm. With a smile on her lips, she leaned forward, pressed the tip of the blade to his crotch. “Kittens have claws.”
Thorne bit back a laugh, delight a soft flutter inside his chest. He really shouldn’t be so amused with a sharp blade threatening his balls, but damn if Anjali’s little trick didn’t make him want to smile. Claws indeed.
“I suppose,” he said, his voice all serious, because he couldn’t let her think she’d impressed him with her dagger-conjuring, “you’re also fast enough to slit a demon’s throat when one jumps at you?”
“Of course I’m—”
He’d wrenched the blade out of her hand and had it pressed against her neck before she finished. Eyes wide, she swallowed, her throat muscles moving underneath the gleaming metal of the dagger. With one hand she grasped his wrist, put counter-pressure on his hold to keep the blade away, with the other she pushed against his chest.
Darkness swirled between them.
“You won’t hurt me,” she said, the huskiness of her voice an exquisite caress.
He clenched his jaw, narrowed his eyes, unwilling to admit she was right. “That’s not the point here.” He leaned in closer, made sure she saw that he meant what he said next. “I’m going to take you out of these tunnels and escort you to safer parts of the city, and then you’re going to go home and never look back. You’re going to forget we met tonight, and you won’t ever attempt to follow me again. If you try to sic your family on me, I’ll be gone before they even set foot outside your home. Understood?”
Her face hardened with obvious determination, and she raised her chin. “No.”
He cursed. “You’re ill-equipped to be traipsing around demon territory. You, of all witches, should stay away from danger.” He paused. “From me.”
Something flickered in her gorgeous eyes. She blinked quickly and lowered her gaze, fine lines forming around her mouth. “I’m not going to—”
A massive weight slammed into her from the side, wrenching her out of his hold. With a muted shriek, she crashed down, while he stumbled back and lost the dagger, thrown off balance by the force of the unexpected attack. The next instant, Anjali’s protective charm activated. Bright light exploded from the necklace as a blow of raw power shoved off the creature on top of her, catapulted it into the opposite tunnel wall.
Thorne whirled around and put himself between Anjali and the injured beast, his own dagger at the ready. The animal was the same one that had stalked by them moments ago—an underground-dwelling demon species called skelos. How had it seen through his shadow cloaking? He’d held on to—ah fuck, he hadn’t held on to her the whole time. When he’d pressed the dagger against her throat, she’d yanked her hand out of his grip, and he hadn’t noticed until now. Anjali had been without the shadow’s protection while he was still cloaked. And the beast had locked on to her as its prey. Shit, shit, shit.
Behind him, Anjali stirred and groaned.
He glanced at her over his shoulder. His moment of distraction cost him. The skelos lunged at Anjali again. It collided with Thorne—who was still cloaked in shadow and invisible to the beast—in the process, and the impact had both tumbling down. Pain
shot through his shoulders and back as he hit the ground hard and rolled over once, tangled with the creature. With a snarl, the skelos bit around itself, now aware of Thorne’s presence but still blind to him.
He lashed out with his dagger at the same instant the beast’s jaw clamped down around his side. Piranha-sharp teeth sank into Thorne’s hip, and he bit his lip to keep from screaming. His blade sank into the creature’s neck, but missed its jugular and spine. Damn.
The skelos writhed, screeching, and pulled the dagger out of Thorne’s hold with its frantic spasms. Now weaponless, he had to use his bare hands and some awfully acrobatic squirming moves to keep the creature from tearing him apart. He had another knife tucked in a holster around his right calf, but between the beast’s thrashing and Thorne’s attempts to evade the shredding claws on one end and the menacing sharpness of its teeth on the other, he couldn’t find a second’s reprieve to make a grab for the spare blade.
With a move too fast for him to block, the skelos flipped them both around. It pinned him to the floor with its front legs, driving its claws into his chest and shoulders. His mind blanked at the pain lancing through him. He lost his grip on his shadow cloaking, and the dark veil concealing him from the creature’s eyes flickered, lifted.
The skelos growled, its gaze homing in on Thorne. It reared its head, jaw open wide, its yellow eyes glinting with predatory focus, preparing to tear his throat out. With the beast’s claws still pinning him to the floor like a pierced butterfly in an insect aficionado’s collection, he couldn’t move, couldn’t defend himself. For a frozen second, his mind flatlined with the realization that this was it. He was going to die.
A flash in front of him, the tunnel lights glinting off a blade that slashed across the front of the skelos’ neck. Anjali jumped back, gripping her dagger tight. The beast’s screech turned to a gurgle as blood flooded from the tear in its throat, spraying Thorne with warm, red mist.
Thrashing, the creature staggered off him, kicking him in its struggle. He thumped down a few feet away, and—holy hell, did the impact with the ground hurt the wounds in his hip and chest. Pain as if someone raked barbed wire through his limbs fired along his nerves, made him catch his breath for a moment, and he came close to blacking out.