by Sadie Sears
I squared my shoulders and offered the guy standing at the door the same stone-faced expression he offered me as he looked across the empty lot to my car. I wasn’t easy to intimidate, and the faster these assholes learned that, the better. I’d taken plenty of hard knocks through my life, and none of these dickwads could do anything to me that would compare with losing my brother.
Especially not when I was here to… Well, if not avenge him, certainly honor his memory and discover the truth about his death. And I had no doubt that Chloe Moss was some kind of lynchpin in my case. She had information, and I was going to get it.
I dug around in my oversized purse for my Dictaphone. My phone didn’t have great capacity for long conversations, and this was a conversation I definitely wanted to play back later.
Footsteps scuffed rapidly over the loose gravel sitting on top of the cement behind me, and I half turned as a man knocked into me. He grabbed me around the waist and began to yank me next to him before altering his grip as I struggled.
“Hey… Hey!” I waved in the direction on the guy at the door, but he didn’t even look at me.
He knew I was there, damn him.
I let out another strangled scream and pressed my heels against the ground as I twisted and turned, trying to find purchase so I could fight. But I couldn’t secure any sort of grip at all.
“Let me go.” I shouted the words, but the guy dragging me just huffed his disgusting breath all over me.
Nothing I did broke his stride as he continued to drag me toward the small wooded area that bordered the parking lot. If he got me into the trees, I’d disappear, no doubt about it.
“No.” My life wasn’t going to end like this. “No.” I spoke louder and fought again, clawing at his hands and twisting left and right, trying to overbalance him or reach for my gun.
A strange whooping war cry came from the back alley of the pub and a man—one of them, the one with the dark blue hair—raced toward me, his arms and legs pumping as he crossed the space between us.
“Demon!” he yelled, but no one was listening.
The guy at the door didn’t move, and what good was a fucking doorman who didn’t help a customer in distress? My anger renewed, and I kicked out again while the other man sprinted closer and closer.
My movements froze as recognition slammed into me.
Navy blue hair, chiseled jaw. Shit. I’d looked at a photo of this guy nearly every day since Rhett went missing.
Ash Mullen.
The thoughts flickered across my mind like lightning as he rammed into the man dragging me, and the hand holding me faded out for a moment, becoming shadowy, and curling with smoke.
I froze, no longer fighting. No longer even thinking. Noises muted as I watched the hold the man still had on me. It was another of those creatures from outside Saul Brek’s estate. I could barely even swallow down my nausea, and I hit the ground hard and lay there listening to the sound of one of these damn Dragon’s Lair men clashing with the demon behind me.
I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. In…out. In…out. In…out. Gradually all distractions faded away, and only I existed as a voice inside my mind, focusing on only my breathing.
“Hey.”
I opened my eyes.
“Hey,” Ash said again, and I rolled my eyes so I could see him.
Nothing else moved, though. Just my eyes.
He held his hand out. “You’re safe now. You can get up.” He winced and rubbed his other hand across his temple. “You’re safe,” he repeated.
Moving was like physically unclenching my whole body, and my muscles simply didn’t want to oblige. I gritted my teeth as I rolled into a sitting position.
I took his hand, and his eyes almost seemed to simmer as he drew me to my feet. His fingers curled tighter around mine.
“Are you okay?” Real concern creased his features as he rubbed his fingertips over his temple again.
“Yeah. Sure.” I wasn’t about to have a conversation with him. I knew what he was. “Thanks.” I forced the word out as I rubbed the dust off my pants in brisk strokes. “But you didn’t need to. I had it.”
I hated the ugliness of my ungrateful words, but I didn’t want some dangerous guy thinking he’d saved me from a different dangerous guy. As I straightened my jacket, I made sure to flash my badge briefly, so there were no doubts who was in charge in this situation.
He grunted, but I couldn’t tell what it was in acknowledgment of—whether he’d seen my badge or heard my words. “It’s not safe for you to be here without Draven or me right now.”
Interesting. But I played it cool, like what he’d just said had washed right over me rather than the truth—that I was scribbling mental notes at a million miles per hour. “I’m just here to see Chloe.”
But I allowed my gaze to drift thoughtfully over Ash. Perhaps if Chloe wasn’t helpful, he could be. Maybe I had a way in now, the lead that had evaded me for so long—especially as Rhett’s boyfriend had made himself conspicuous by his absence.
He was a hard man to track down. Like evasion was his superpower.
Ash nodded and walked toward the pub, gesturing for me to follow him. “That thing was probably after me. And it was only a baby demon, anyway. His glamor flickered as soon as I ran into him.” He spoke over his shoulder, seeming disinterested in me after my blunt ingratitude for his help.
“So, I was just collateral damage in all the crap that seems to surround you people?” I kept my tone deliberately snippy as I rubbed at a dust streak on my sleeve.
He cast me a glance, and uncertainty appeared to shine in his eyes for a moment as he slid his hand into his pocket briefly. “Yeah. You just got in the way.”
Despite his casually dismissive words, I quickened my step, wanting to walk beside him. But I paused, forcing myself slow down. I didn’t get hero worship—even for men who saved me from certain abduction, possibly death.
I stole a look at him. Strong jaw, funky hair, pretty eyes. But so much more than that. Perfect height, long legs, broad shoulders, trim waist… And as my gaze dropped lower, I forced it back to the ground in front of me. My cheeks burned as I tried to override my sudden interest in a guy I didn’t actually know, and who I probably even hated just for existing.
After all, the thing I wanted most in life these days was revenge. Someone had taken my twin and killed him, and that someone needed to pay.
But as I took another accidental—and lingering—look at Ash, I reconsidered my level of interest. Of course I was drawn to him. That was natural. He was my best chance so far to get some information about Rhett’s murder or about Rhett’s boyfriend, Ryo. My cop instinct never failed me.
“I’ll take you in the back way. It’s more private, away from the prying eyes of other customers.” He glanced at me as he led me through the door. “Wait here. I’ll get Chloe.”
As he turned away, I resisted a sudden urge to push him against the nearest wall and kiss him until I couldn’t tell where I stopped and he started. I curled my hand around the nearest doorframe to keep myself from moving. I wanted to follow along at his heels, waiting for his attention to focus back on me.
But damn it.
No.
I was in control of this investigation, not some guy who’d just fended off a demon for me and I’d developed a crazy instantaneous crush on. I closed my eyes and drew in some deep breaths.
I’d come here for one reason, and one reason only.
To avenge my brother.
Get Ready for Book 2 in the Demon Dragons OF Port Lair Series, Shadows Of Sin
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Shadows Of Sin
Get Ready for Book 2 in the Demon Dragons OF Port Lair Series, Shadows Of Sin
Available Now!
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Taming My Rebel
Demon Dragons Of Port Lair: Book 1
Sadie Sears
© 2020
Disclaimer
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).