To protect what was mine…
Rushing the door, I threw it open. My eyes scanned the night. Serena was nowhere, but her suitcase was at the bottom of the steps. But there were others—two of them in the driveway, one further down the road, but that was Dex, and another in the woods.
A shadow blurred across the driveway, coming to a halt at the bottom of the stairs. Out of the shapeless mass, a form began to take shape. Within seconds, a tall woman stood there. Her icy blond hair was loose over bare shoulders. The strapless halter she wore did very little to hide the swells of her breasts or her toned midsection.
It was Jael, one of the three that had been by the gazebo the day Serena decided to take a little walk.
Jael’s hips swayed with each step. Her skirt climbed higher and higher, until I saw a thin strip of white lace.
“Hunter,” she purred, her bloodred lips parting as she rolled her tongue around my name. “I think it’s long past the time we get to know each other on a personal level.”
“Really?” I replied. “Where’s your boy Raz?”
She gave a vapid smile. “He’s busy. That just leaves me and you.”
“And Colec,” I pointed out, referencing the other one.
Jael ran a hand down the valley of breasts and her stomach. “He likes to watch.”
“Good.” I watched her prowl up the remaining steps. “I have something for him.”
“You do?” She slinked up against me. “I like where this is heading.”
I wrapped a hand around Jael’s throat. The female smiled. “I like it rough,” she whispered.
“That’s great because it’s about to get really rough.”
Jael’s eyes widened a fraction of an inch. I spun around, lifting her up in the air, tossing her over the railing. Stunned, the Arum didn’t drop the human form quick enough. She smacked off the hood of the Expedition below.
Grabbing the railing, I propelled myself over it, landing below in a crouch. My head snapped up as Jael rolled off the hood and fell onto her knees, gasping.
A shadow launched over the SUV, heading straight for me.
I sprung up, kicking off the grille of the car. Spinning around, I dodged the Arum. I jumped, catching the mass of shadows, driving Colec into the ground. Gravel spewed into the air.
“I don’t have time for this,” I growled, tightening my hold on the Arum. Rearing up, I slammed my hand into the center of the Arum’s chest.
Colec’s eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. A watery gurgle escaped.
I yanked my arm back and smiled. The moonlight caught and reflected off the silver handle and the deep red of the blade. “Obsidian.”
The Arum shuddered and its skin rippled like a stirred-up wave. Energy pulsed and then, as I pushed off, the Arum broke apart, shattered into a thousand fragments that floated up into the atmosphere.
“You bastard!” Jael shrieked. “How could you kill with one of those things? Is that how you fight? You weak piece of human-loving shit. I’m going to kill you!”
Jael slipped into her true form. I’m going to rip your ballsss off and feed them to your asss until you beg me to let you live. Then I will feed your dick to that human bitch asss Raz—
I threw the obsidian dagger. It spun through the air as fast as a bullet, striking true. The dagger embedded deep into Jael’s chest, cutting off her tirade. She let loose a scream that blasted my eardrums. A second later she fragmented, joining Colec in the great unknown.
Swiping the dagger off the ground, I reached around, slipping the blade into its leather holster along my back. It seared my skin when I wore it, but the pain was nothing compared to what I was going to do to Raz.
I tore through the woods. It took me no time to find the bastard, and when I did, rage rose from deep inside me. He was on top of her and between her legs, in his true form. Her heels were digging into the dirt as she slammed her fists into his sides.
Lurching forward, I yanked the son of a bitch off her and tossed him aside. My gaze fastened on her wide eyes and bloodied face before sweeping down, seeing her torn shirt and the unbuttoned jeans.
A new feeling assaulted me as I realized what Raz had been trying to do. Turning to where the Arum picked himself up, I knew I was going to thoroughly enjoy killing him.
I was right up in his face, grabbing him around his inky black throat. I threw him into the nearby tree. The resounding crack sent birds shrieking into the sky.
Shooting forward, I slammed my fist into Raz’s face, but the fucker recovered, pushing me back several feet. Edges began to blur as tiny wisps of black smoke inked out from his shoulders, spreading behind it like wings. He rushed me like a missile, and then I jumped, letting the change take over. Arms out to my side, I spun and my body morphed, my mass expanding and spreading.
Shit was about to get real.
Branches shook and stretched toward where I was, and Raz came straight at me. We twisted in the air, slicing through the branches.
We hit the ground, both in our true forms, exchanging blows like we were in a cage match. This wasn’t just about killing Raz. This was about obliterating him for daring to touch Serena. An animalistic, brutal fury had taken hold in me.
I punched Raz, snapping his head back. He fell but quickly regained his footing. Then he charged me once more. Grabbing hold of him, I took him into the air, but at the last moment, he twisted and we went flying back to Earth. Taking the brunt of the impact that was so fierce that it knocked Serena onto her ass, I was momentarily immobile as we skidded across the ground, digging up dirt and bushes. Soil flew everywhere, thickening the air. When we came to a stop, we had dug a ditch several feet long.
Raz sprang off me, heading for Serena again. I powered to my feet, but before I could reach the jackass, Dex shot out from the stand of trees, slamming straight into him. Dex took Raz across the clearing, impaling him into a tree.
But Dex backed off, because he knew somehow. Maybe it was the instinct of our kind. He left Raz for me.
I stopped in front of Raz and a moment passed. He lifted his head and roared. I struck like lightning. My fist hit Raz’s chest and then went through it. Yanking my arm back, something long and inky came with it. I ripped his spine straight out from him and watched as Raz folded into himself like crumpled paper. No more than a second passed before the body shuddered and broke apart, pieces floating into the sky and then fading out.
In the silence that followed, I staggered a step back, body aching from the fight and the need that always seemed to follow something so bloody. Usually I needed a woman or my hand, but not now.
I needed Serena.
Turning to her, lust punched me in the gut harder than any blow Raz managed to land. Getting to her and then getting inside her was all I could think about.
Ssslow it down, brother. Dex’s voice whispered.
I really didn’t understand him, or I didn’t care, because I took a step toward Serena. When I got to her, I was going to—
Serena took a shaky step back, her hands spasming around the edges of her torn shirt. I moved closer and the color of panic swirled around her. She careened around me, her eyes darting from Dex to me, and it was in that moment that I realized I was still in my true form and was probably scaring the ever-loving crap out of her.
The lust eased off, surprisingly, as another need rose swiftly: a desire to comfort her. It seemed too little too late, because Serena took off running toward the cabin.
I caught sight of Dex and he nodded.
Cursing myself, I tracked her easily, finding her on her knees near the edge of the woods. The lights of the cabin flickered between the thick branches. I stopped and took my human form.
“Serena.”
She lifted her head, letting out a shaky breath. “I think I might have lost a little bit of my mind back there.”
I knelt, close but not touching. “That’s understandable.”
Sitting back, she eased her legs out from underneath her. “Aliens.” She
laughed. “I think it’s finally really sinking in. Aliens.”
“I prefer the term extraterrestrial,” said Dex from behind us.
Serena scrambled to her feet and stumbled. I caught her around the shoulders, steadying her before she hurt herself further.
“He’s not going to harm you.” There was an odd gentleness to my voice as my hands trailed off her shoulders. “He’s a friend. This is Dex.”
She seemed to relax a little, but didn’t say anything.
Dex slipped his hands into his jean pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Extraterrestrial just sounds cooler.”
“Yeah,” she whispered, and then said louder, “you guys are like the friendly neighborhood alien watch around here?”
Dex laughed.
“No,” I said, completely serious. “We’re usually the opposite.”
She stared at us. “That’s reassuring.”
“That’s Hunter,” Dex said, smiling. “A pillar of support.”
My eyes narrowed and then I turned to Serena. “Remember how I said shit was about to get a lot crazier? Well, it did, and that’s not even what I was talking about.”
Chapter 19
I was marginally surprised when Serena seemed to pull herself together. Then again, I wasn’t giving her enough credit. The female was tough as tungsten, but given how quiet she was as the three of us walked back to the cabin, which was so unlike her, I half expected her to freak out and start running again. So I kept an eye on her, and something about the way she kept her arms wrapped around her, making her appear smaller than she was, more vulnerable and fragile, made me want to hold her close.
Back in front of the cabin, I took in what Dex had brought me. “I thought I told you something inconspicuous?”
Dex smirked as he ran his hand over the hood of the midnight blue Porsche. “You said you wanted something fast. This is the fastest thing I have.” He touched the car lovingly. “And if you get one scratch on this baby, I will kill you and make it hurt.”
“Your car will be fine.” I glanced over at Serena. She was standing near the Porsche, staring at it. Her head was tilted to the side, and even in the darkness I could see the bruise along her cheek and the swollen lower lip.
I turned back to Dex. “Stay here with her. I’ll be right back.”
Dex nodded and I turned, heading back into the house. I grabbed what I needed quickly, and when I returned they were exactly where I’d left them. But Dex had an odd look on his face.
“What?” I asked.
He pursed his lips, then said in a low voice, “She hasn’t spoken a word.”
“I doubt that will last.” I gestured at the Expedition. “I need you to get rid of this SUV. Everything else has been taken care of.”
“All right, man.” Dex held out his hand. “Take care of yourself.”
I hesitated for a moment, and then I shook his hand. “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
Grabbing the luggage, I tossed them into the trunk. When I closed it, I found Dex standing beside me.
“I don’t know what you’re planning to do with her,” Dex said, voice low, “but she’s a human, Hunter. You’re going to have to be careful with her. They break easily.”
I snorted, but then in a moment of clarity, I turned to Dex. “Did you ever worry about breaking Eliza?”
The Arum met my gaze with equally pale eyes. “Every damn day.”
“Then why are you with her?”
Dex placed a hand to his chest. “Because of what’s in here—what I feel for her will never allow me to hurt her.”
“You speak of love?” I shook my head as I clutched the keys. “Very foolish to rely on a human emotion to protect her.”
“It’s also very foolish to think we’re incapable of being more human than Arum.”
And with that, he was gone.
I stood there for a moment. More human than Arum? Impossible.
Turning around, my gaze landed on Serena. Under the moonlight, her hair was a silver halo around her bowed head. As I approached her cautiously, she looked up. Close as we were, I could see the deep purplish marring of the bruise across her cheek, the dried blood under her lip.
Shit. I wanted to kill Raz all over again.
When I reached around her, she flinched. “I’m just getting the door. That’s all.” I opened it for her and she climbed in and huddled in the front seat.
Closing it behind her, I had one last thing to take care of. Moving to the back of the Porsche, I bent and tugged up my pants. Slipping my hand under the opal-encased tracking device, I knew removing it was a straight “fucked if you do and fucked if you don’t.” But without it, the DOD couldn’t track me.
And without it, I wouldn’t have the opal to enhance my powers and minimize my need to feed. I’d need a new piece of opal, one hopefully not wired with a GPS, and I knew where to get one.
I wrenched the anklet off my leg. A fissure of energy rippled through me, and then a red light flickered on the piece of opal. Holding it in my hand, I crushed the device, letting the tiny pieces sift through my fingers like dust. The only part that remained was the opal and I tossed it into a nearby bush.
In that moment, I hoped I knew what I was doing. I didn’t really have a plan other than to get another piece of opal, and then what? Anyone’s guess. Mainly I hoped I wasn’t just delaying the inevitable for Serena and exposing her to more pain.
I stalked around the car and slid in behind the steering wheel. We needed to get to somewhere safe. And I needed to get a good look at her to see the extent of her injuries. She would need to rest.
There were a lot of “she needs” in my thoughts.
Throwing the car into reverse, I spun it around, kicking gravel into the air as the tires squealed. Good thing Dex wasn’t around to see that. Hitting the main road, I glanced over at Serena.
“You should put your seat belt on.”
Face pale, she slowly unwrapped her arms and fumbled with the seat belt until it clicked into place.
“Are you okay, Serena? Raz, he…” I trailed off because I was sure I was going to flip my shit when I thought about what Raz had been trying to do her.
Serena nodded. The trees crowding the road blurred and it wasn’t until we had left the community, easing onto the main highway, that she spoke.
“Where are we going?” she asked, her voice sounding tired.
I shifted my weight in the seat, feeling her gaze on me. “Someplace we can hole up for the day.” A quick glance at the dashboard told me I had only a few hours before sunrise.
“Then what?” Her voice sounded stronger.
I smiled. “I’m hoping to figure that out at some point.”
Serena returned to staring out the windshield. Her hands were opening and closing in her lap. I wondered if she even knew she was doing it? One of her hands, her left, looked pretty mangled. The nails were broken off, chipped and bloody.
Rage settled in my gut as I thought about all she had been through. Honestly, I never gave two shits to the problems of humans or the perils they faced simply by walking from the kitchen to the bathroom, but with Serena, I thought about it. Fuck. I was obsessing over it.
Gripping the steering wheel with one hand, my eyes narrowed on the dark road. I didn’t realize what I was doing until I reached over and wrapped my fingers around her hand, careful to avoid her fingers.
Serena didn’t pull away. She squeezed my hand.
And I squeezed back.
…
I hadn’t known what to say. Even though my brain seemed to have caught up with the events over the last couple of hours and I was relatively sane, I just didn’t know what to say. Was a thank-you in order? Seemed inappropriate somehow, and by that time, I was so…numb to it all that I couldn’t say anything.
And I couldn’t stop staring at the hand wrapped around mine. Hunter’s hand looked human, graceful bones and skin. His touch was much cooler, but besides that, it looked no different than any huma
n male’s hand.
The way he held my hand, as if he was afraid of hurting me somehow, created a thick lump in my throat. It was a gentleness I don’t think he even knew he was capable of.
I stole a look at him.
He’d fallen quiet, and right now he looked like he always did: insanely good-looking and serious, a strange combination that had intrigued me from the beginning. But there was a taut pull to his lips. The hollows under his cheekbones looked more severe. In the shadowy darkness of the car, it looked like there were bruises starting to appear on his face.
Concern rose swiftly. He and Raz had fought so violently—a true death match. I’d never seen anything like that. It was straight out of a movie, and it was insane that he was still breathing and standing.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
His gaze slid toward me. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“How could you be okay after fighting like that?”
He didn’t respond immediately. “I’m used to it.”
Used to that? That made me hurt for him. “You must heal differently than…than humans do.”
“We do.” He paused, withdrawing his hand. “When we take our true form, we heal.”
“That’s convenient,” I murmured. My hand felt empty and cold, and nothing was said after that.
Dawn had begun to creep along the eastern horizon, casting the sky in vibrant hues of deep blues, by the time Hunter had taken the exit ramp and pulled into a small motel nestled in the valleys and farmlands. We were still deep in the middle of West Virginia, but had put several hours and miles between the cabin and us.
I waited in the Porsche while Hunter checked in. Luckily he got a room along the back, so the car could be parked behind the motel. He didn’t seem to be worried that anyone would know who we were, but I kept expecting aliens and DOD officers to jump out of nowhere.
“The motel doesn’t look too shady,” Hunter said, grabbing our luggage from the trunk. “You should be able to get cleaned up and get some rest.”
Weary, I followed behind him, scanning the dusky lit parking lot. Something struck me then. “Do you sleep? I’ve never seen you sleep.”
Obsession Page 18