by Kate Baxter
She didn’t have anything but the clothes on her back. She’d regret her decision to leave once she got a healthy dose of reality.
As they neared the gate, Ewan hesitated. He’d used stealth to get past security and who knew what Saeed had told his people after they’d stormed out. Sasha urged him forward this time, her shoulders thrown back, head held high.
“They won’t dare touch you,” she said.
“Why? Because they’re afraid of you?”
Sasha laughed. “No. Because they’re afraid of you.”
Ewan had no idea how many vampires were in Sasha’s coven. It was only part of the intel Gregor had wanted him to collect. He’d only seen three including Sasha and he assumed that had there been more in the house, Saeed would have summoned them to provide additional backup. Which meant the remainder of their coven probably consisted of weaker dhampirs. Easy to overpower.
Sasha released Ewan’s hand and marched straight up to the gate. She turned to face whoever manned the guard station. Her eyes flashed feral silver. She didn’t speak a single word. The gate remained closed and she slowly turned her head to look at Ewan, directing the guard to follow her gaze.
Ewan stood his ground. His eyes met the dhampir’s and he waited. Seconds later the gate swung wide with a mechanical hum. Gregor wouldn’t be too happy if Ewan’s presence here tonight caused the vampires to pull up camp and move. Ewan suspected that wouldn’t happen, though. Saeed would keep this a secret until he could secure Sasha’s safety. The vampire knew he’d hurt her and would want to somehow make amends.
His guilt was Ewan’s saving grace.
Sasha led the way past the gate and down the driveway. She didn’t so much as cast a glance over her shoulder as she walked away from her home. A protective urge spiked within Ewan. It tightened his skin on his bones and caused his heart to beat a little too fast. Sasha cradled her right arm in her left as she walked, drawing his attention to the wound that had started them down this road tonight.
“You need to feed.” Ewan picked up his pace to catch up to her. She tilted her head to the left but gave no other indication that she heard him. “The burn hasn’t healed.”
“I’ll live.”
It had been one hell of a night and apparently it wasn’t over. Ewan wasn’t interested in yet another fight, but it looked like he was going to get one whether he wanted it or not. “I know you’ll live. That’s not the point.”
“Then what is your point?” Sasha hung a left and headed down the street to where Ewan’s Civic was parked. Rather than hustle to catch up, he hung back. If they were going to get into it, he’d rather it happened out of Saeed’s earshot.
“Nothing. Never mind.”
Sasha whipped around at his dismissal. Great. He couldn’t catch a fucking break tonight. He’d spent the first half in the battle arena and the second half deep in hostile territory. All he wanted to do was take Sasha back to her apartment where he knew she’d be safe and call it a gods-damned night. The sun would be up in a few hours and there was a lot to take care of at the apartment before then. Sasha had never spent the day there before. Nothing had been done to protect the space from encroaching sunlight. Fucking hell, did she not consider her own safety and well-being at all?
The spark in her silver eyes and set of her jaw told him she was ready to throw down. “Get in the car, Sasha.” It wasn’t going to happen here. Period. “Now.”
“You might have tethered me, Ewan, but don’t think that gives you the right to treat me like property.”
Good gods. Ewan rolled his eyes. She was going out of her way to goad him. She wouldn’t be happy until she got what she wanted: a knock-down, drag-out verbal brawl. Awesome. Ewan was a stubborn bastard, though. He’d be damned if he gave her what she wanted.
“You’re right. Far be it from me to force you to do anything.” He yanked open the driver side door and stared at her from over the hood. “The apartment’s what … a good fifteen or so miles from here? You’re welcome to walk it if you want. Sunrise is still a couple hours off. You’ll make it with plenty of time to spare.”
She could make it back to her apartment in fifteen minutes or less thanks to her supernatural speed. But Ewan suspected she didn’t want to go on foot. If she had, she wouldn’t have gone to his car in the first place. She just wanted to push his buttons. Push away, baby. He was unshakable.
Sasha would learn soon enough that going head-to-head with him wasn’t a good idea. She’d lose. Every time. Ewan only hoped that in the process of teaching her a lesson, he didn’t push her away from him as well.
* * *
Sasha was itching for a fight and it pissed her off that Ewan refused to give her one. Almost every male she knew had managed to earn a spot on her shit list and she was about three seconds away from asking Ewan to drive her to Pasadena so she could spend the night with Lucas’s coven. Anywhere was better than here. In fact, Pasadena probably wasn’t far enough away. Right now, a place on the freaking moon would be too close to Ewan and Saeed and Diego and anyone else who thought to cross her. She wanted to put her fist into both of their guts, though for two totally different reasons.
Were they really different, though? Maybe her reasons for being annoyed with them were more similar than she wanted to admit.
Ewan gave her one last disdainful look before settling into the driver’s seat and closing the door. Sasha glanced at him through the window and fought a bout of laughter. He barely fit in the tiny compact car and it made his frame seem even larger and more imposing. Like a grizzly bear shoved into a golf cart. Her lips twitched, threatening a smile and she locked that shit down. She wasn’t ready to let go of her foul mood.
She climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door. “How did you find me?” It had been nagging at her ever since he’d shown up. Berserkers had keen senses, but he couldn’t have possibly picked up her scent over fifteen-plus miles.
“Does it matter?”
His elusive bullshit was what had started the ball rolling tonight. Because Sasha had allowed herself to care. All caring did was open her up to hurt. He didn’t want to share? Fine.
“I guess not.”
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye as he turned the key. The engine coughed and spluttered before dying and Ewan turned the key once again as he pumped his foot on the gas pedal to encourage the old car to start. His scent soured with his annoyance and Sasha wrinkled her nose. It bothered him that the car wouldn’t start. Maybe even embarrassed him? Sasha had meant what she’d said. She didn’t give a crap what his car looked like or how old it was. Material possessions meant little to her.
Though she had to admit, her Audi had never managed to break her heart …
Ewan said a curse under his breath. He turned the key once more and though it resisted his efforts to get it going, it finally whined and whirred to life. Sasha suspected he’d gotten the engine to turn over by sheer will alone. She knew Ewan well enough to realize he didn’t take defeat lightly. Which was why she couldn’t believe he wouldn’t let her goad him into a fight. Aggression was what he did best. She wasn’t thrilled with his passivity.
He pulled out onto the street and pushed the ailing car as fast as it would go. Why the urgency? They had plenty of time to make it back to the apartment by sunrise. Ewan took a hard left and Sasha reached for the “oh shit” handle above the door. “Where’s the fire?”
Ewan glanced up at the rearview mirror. His jaw squared as his hands gripped the steering wheel tight. “We’re being followed.”
Followed? “What? By who?”
Ewan gave her a look. “If I knew that I wouldn’t be hauling ass to get as far from your coven’s home base as possible. It could be a coincidence, but I don’t think so.”
A knot of worry gathered in Sasha’s stomach. She was angry with Saeed and needed space but that didn’t mean she wanted anything bad to happen to the members of the coven. A seed of doubt sprouted in her mind. One that ate away at her like acid. H
ad she somehow allowed Ewan to easily find her tonight and thereby given the berserkers the location of their coven? Worry turned to panic as Sasha envisioned an ambush. One she’d narrowly escaped. Their security had been her responsibility. One she’d shirked in order to party her life away. Gods, if anything happened to them, she’d never forgive herself.
“What did you do, Ewan?”
The accusation left her lips before she could think better of it. Old habits died hard, it seemed. She couldn’t help but throw her suspicions in his face. He kept his attention on the road, his concentration solid as he veered off to a side street in order to shake whoever followed them. At least, that was the impression he gave. For all Sasha knew, Ewan was playing a part for her benefit, appearing to elude their pursuers. She’d been petulant and angry at Saeed, ready to dismiss every word out of his mouth for the sake of being contrary. But what if she was wrong about Ewan? What if their connection—the moments they’d shared the past several weeks—meant absolutely nothing to him.
What if he was leading her into a trap?
Doubt gnawed at her. Fear scraped at the back of her mind like a dull knife. She considered bailing but she’d burned a bridge with Saeed tonight and likewise, Ewan knew where her apartment was which eliminated hiding out there as a possibility. She could try to make it to Lucas’s or take shelter with Ani for the day, but Sasha wasn’t interested in bringing trouble to either of their doors. She was left with only one option: stay right the hell where she was and weather the storm. And pray she lived to see another night.
“For the record, berserkers wouldn’t be so blatant.” Ewan’s response chilled Sasha’s skin. “An attack would come out of nowhere. They’d strike silently and kill you before you had a chance to process what was happening.”
Sasha let out a breath. “Is that supposed to somehow make me feel better?”
Ewan shrugged as though he couldn’t care one way or another how it made her feel. “I’m just laying it out for you since you suddenly think I’ve somehow betrayed you.”
It was nearly impossible to get anything over on a supernatural creature. Sasha’s scent gave her away, as did the beat of her heart and the small tells in her body language that indicated she was on edge. Ewan cut to the right, backtracking the way they’d come. The Honda’s tired engine protested and the car spluttered as he put the pedal to the floor. Definitely not the ideal vehicle for a high-speed chase.
“Ewan, look out!”
Sasha caught sight of the projectile from the corner of her eye. It hit the pavement twenty yards in front of them and exploded into bright orange, blue, and green flames.
Hellfire.
Well, she guessed that ruled out the berserkers as their pursuers. Ewan jerked the wheel to his left and the tires screeched as the car went into a skid. They narrowly avoided the explosion and Sasha cupped her palm over her burned forearm. Hellfire wasn’t anything to mess with. The flames burned hot enough to melt metal and couldn’t be extinguished by water. Some demons could even coax hellfire to spring right from their hands. Sasha had been on the receiving end of one of those particular demon’s not-so-gentle touch. And she never wanted to experience anything like it ever again.
Ewan straightened the wheel and the car righted itself. “Fucking demons!” Rage resonated in his gravelly tone and Sasha didn’t need to see his eyes to know that inky black bled into the whites and irises. “I’m going to kill every last one of them!”
He brought the car to a screeching halt that nearly sent Sasha through the windshield. Yeah, Ewan was pissed. She was shaken up, weak, and it was too close to sunrise for this sort of melee. She wasn’t prepared to stand and fight. Did that matter to Ewan? Sasha doubted it even crossed his mind. Berserkers were war machines. Fighting was ingrained in their DNA. They didn’t know fear. They didn’t retreat. There was no other option for Ewan but to stand against his attackers. Running wouldn’t even cross his mind. And by default, Sasha would have no choice but to stand and fight as well. Or more to the point, defend herself as best she could and try not to get burned to a crisp in the process.
Was it too late to ask for a do-over? Because this night was officially fucked.
CHAPTER
19
Ewan was going to destroy every single one of those low-life bastards. Those piece-of-shit sore losers had messed with the wrong male. After the fucked-up night he’d had, Ewan was more than ready to blow off a little steam. If they wanted a fight, he’d sure as hell give them one.
“Wait in the car.”
He might have wanted to deliver unimaginable pain to the demons who thought they could bully him, but he wasn’t about to risk Sasha’s safety in the process. He reached for the door handle and stopped as Sasha grasped his arm.
“You’re kidding, right?” Silver laced her disbelieving gaze. “You think I’m actually going to sit here and watch while you go out there and get yourself killed?”
Her lack of faith in his fighting prowess left little to be desired. He’d deal with that later, though. In the meantime, he wasn’t about to let her step foot outside the car. Not that it would do much to protect her from hellfire, but if it came down to it, she could at least beat a hasty retreat.
“You’re injured and weak, and you’re not getting out of this car. Do you understand me, Sasha?” Ewan’s gaze drilled into hers for emphasis. Her stubborn expression filled him with a dark foreboding that did nothing for the anxious energy that cycled through him. The odds were against him and he needed every ounce of focus he could muster. Distractions would only help to get them both killed.
“I’ll stay in the car if you do.”
Ewan clenched his jaw so tight that the enamel of his teeth ground from the force. Gods, she was a stubborn pain in the ass. “I don’t have time to argue with you. Stay in the car, Sasha. Slide over to the driver’s seat and if shit goes south, hit the gas and get the hell out of here.”
She met him look for look. “No.”
Sasha frustrated the fuck out of him. He opened his mouth, ready to tell her he’d kill her himself if she didn’t do as he said, when several dark figures emerged from the flames. Impervious to their own hellfire, the demons strode toward the car, dark outlines against the bright backdrop. Their time had run out.
“Let me take point. Don’t engage unless you have no other choice. And for the love of the gods, Sasha, don’t piss anyone off with that mouth of yours!” Ewan had no choice but to stand and fight and hope Sasha would come to her senses and stay where she’d be safe.
He let out a frustrated huff of breath as he got out of the car. All he needed was one more complication in the current clusterfuck that was his life. Apparently, Sorath hadn’t been too pleased about Ewan brushing him off earlier tonight. He wanted to get his point across and wasn’t above sending his henchmen to throw supernatural fire across the city to get it done.
It wouldn’t be long before the local fire departments were deployed to the scene. The oncoming clash would be fast, furious, and violent. Over before it barely had a chance to begin. Scuffles like this were common when secrecy was tantamount. The supernatural world fought their wars subversively, many times under the guise of human conflict. That the demons chose to set off a hellfire explosion in the middle of Los Angeles was as careless as it was stupid. Ewan didn’t have time for this shit. The sun would be up soon and he needed to get Sasha out of here ASAP.
“Spread your hellfire!” Ewan shouted over the roar of the flames. “The Sortiari will have your heads for it!”
Laughter echoed over the din. It seemed the demons weren’t frightened by the guardians of fate, their laws, or anything else. “Without their berserker war dogs to enforce their rules, who gives a shit?”
The male had a point. For centuries, the secret society had used Ewan and his brethren to stir fear in the hearts of supernatural creatures all over the world. Gregor had known when he staged his little coup that breaking from the Sortiari would decimate their credibility and authori
ty. Ewan had been doubtful, but no longer. He bore witness to the fracture and it sent a tremor of fear through him.
A world without order was what Ian Gregor sought to create, and he was within touching distance of achieving his goal.
Fucking chaos.
“And yet,” Ewan shouted back. “Here you are, about to have your asses handed to you by a war dog.”
The car door slammed and Ewan’s eyes drifted shut for the barest moment in an effort to calm the hell down. Knowing Sasha was out here, even more exposed, sent a rush of adrenaline through his bloodstream. He kept his position between the encroaching demons and Sasha, his senses tuned in to her every movement. She stepped to the left and Ewan mirrored the motion. To the right, and he shifted in kind. His consciousness split into a dual awareness. One that focused on the threat in front of him, and the other on his mate who needed his protection.
Mate?
The thought came out of nowhere and Ewan quickly banished it from his mind. Every crunch of the demons’ footsteps skittered along his senses and his muscles tensed as he readied himself for the coming fight. They might be armed with hellfire, but that wouldn’t put him down. Nothing short of severing his head from his shoulders would kill him, and Ewan wasn’t about to let the bastards get close enough to try.
Behind him, Sasha stepped to the side. Ewan moved in tandem, completely in sync with every motion. The demons stepped from the cover of shadows, the yellowish pallor of their leathery skin intensified by the flames behind them.
“You owe my employer fifty large, berserker.” One demon stepped from the ranks of the other four and approached Ewan. The wicked points of his sharklike teeth glinted in the firelight as his lips pulled back into a contemptuous sneer. “And he’s not the sort who likes to be kept waiting when it comes to debts being repaid.”