“What the fuck did you just call me?” he growled, backing up and raking his gaze over me.
I kicked like a soccer player aiming for the goal, striking his chin so hard that his teeth clicked together.
My hands were bent behind my back, so I couldn’t blast the two men holding me. Instead, I leaned over and sank my fangs into one guy’s shoulder.
“Owww…Fuck! She bit me!”
When he let go, I swung my free arm and punched the guy to my left. Then I bent forward and gripped his arm, blasting him with energy while simultaneously kicking the man behind me in the stomach.
Skeleton Man suddenly shifted, and if he was the smallest guy in the group, I’d never be able to tell by the size of his grizzly. The bear craned his neck and roared, slobber dripping from its massive jaws. I stumbled back, putting as much distance as I could between us before bumping into a sedan.
When the two other men morphed, I flashed to the end of the parking lot, which ran into a brick wall. I whirled around, facing three bears who were coming for me. I jumped on top of a Mercedes, ran down the trunk, and hopped onto a taller vehicle. One of the bears stood up on its hind legs and rocked the SUV.
Surrounded by angry and potentially hungry predators, I pulled out my phone in a panic.
“I just ordered a second pint. Can this wait? Your onion rings just arrived,” Christian said.
A bear swiped at my feet, and I jumped. “I need your help.”
“Is that so? Could have sworn this was all about phone sex. Don’t be thinking that woman was right. I don’t need help in the bedroom.”
“Dammit, Christian. I’m surrounded.”
“You can’t handle a few juicers? You’re getting rusty.”
“They’re not juicers.” I looked around but couldn’t see a safe way off the vehicle without getting mauled. God forbid if I slipped and wound up a meal.
“I’m disappointed in you, Raven. Didn’t we teach you better than that? All those hours in the training room, and you’re asking me for help?Jaysus, lass. What could possibly be so important that you’d actually pick up the phone to ring me for help?”
“Bears. Fucking bears! Now get your ass out here.”
I hung up and felt like a dancing fool on top of that large SUV. It wasn’t easy to take down a big animal with Mage energy, not without a struggle. Two additional bears only added to the likelihood that I would wind up somebody’s dinner.
And I was nobody’s snack.
My eyes widened at the massive claws on Skeleton Man’s bear as he clawed my leg and tore through my pants and flesh. He and the others circled the vehicle, watching my every move to prevent me from jumping down. They knew that all I needed was some flat land to flash to safety.
Christian coolly strode up, hands in his pockets. “Well, that’s a dandy predicament you’ve gotten yourself into.” He pulled a piece of candy from his pocket and casually unwrapped it as I dodged another attack. “Did you know that a bear’s fangs are three inches long? But it’s their claws that do the most damage.” He looked over my attackers. “I don’t know—they look rather hungry to me. Bears eat up to ninety pounds of food per day. How much do you weigh?”
Once again, destiny screws me over.
Christian chuckled darkly. “Will Goldilocks escape to live another day, or will she perish in the jaws of three hungry bears?” He popped the candy into his mouth. “Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion.”
“I’m not asking you to save me, you fanghole. Just make it a fair fight.”
“Since when is life fair?” He tucked the wrapper into his pocket.
One of the bears rocked the vehicle so abruptly that I almost tumbled into the clutches of another.
Christian wanted to see me grow as a warrior, but he was also being a dick. Admittedly, I probably would have done the same thing to him.
I pointed at the darker bear. “That one clawed my leg. He’s still got my blood on his paw.”
A black look crossed Christian’s face, and he stalked toward the animal. The bear must have weighed half a ton, but Christian grabbed his neck and threw him into the front end of a BMW as if he weighed nothing. The animal bellowed in pain as it slumped to the ground and shifted into a man.
My hero, I wanted to say in jest but jumped into his arms instead. When our eyes locked, sexual heat bounced between us like static electricity.
He smelled amazing. Like onion rings and expensive cologne.
