He dropped into a crouch and reached down to snag the intruder’s boot. Wrenching hard to one side, he threw them off balance half a second before he popped back up, fist swinging. Too late, he realized the intruder was wearing a sleek black helmet.
In the same instant that his knuckles grazed the smoky, glamoured plate covering their face, the intruder ducked, leaning into the momentum of their fall, and swept down below Kaz’s arm.
He saw it happen in slow motion. Shock was a towering wave crashing over him as he watched the intruder move.
Recognition came a heartbeat later.
“Motherfucker,”he snarled, choosing not to go for the rifle as the intruder hopped to one side, out from under the stoop. “Are youkiddingme?”
He turned, lifted his leg, and landed his bare foot in the center of the intruder’s chest — but they were faster and moved like oil. That kick would have crushed the sternum of most beings. They knew that. Instead of stiffening or trying to brace for the hit, theyfollowedit. When his foot connected with their armored breastplate, they bent backward, used their free hand to grasp his ankle, and twisted his leg to the side.
He leaned into the momentum, throwing his body to the side in one smooth flip. Using the motion to his advantage, he took the opportunity to land a hit with his other foot across the visor of the helmet before getting his feet under him once more.
They were on him immediately, their rifle slung across their back as they rained a storm of rapid-fire blows down on his raised arms, shoulders, and torso. Kaz blocked most of them, but not all. It seemed that whenever he landed a solid hit, they managed to do the same — and twice as fast. More outraged than fearing for his life now, he fought back viciously, but not with the aim to kill.
“You couldn’t havecalled?You went into my fuckingnest?I should rip your motherfucking throat out!”he seethed, bobbing and weaving to avoid deadly, swiping claws. They weren’t holding back, but they weren’t trying to kill him, either.
That didn’t mean it feltnicewhen they raked their claws down his ribs, though, or less satisfying when he managed to land another punch on the visor. A spiderweb of cracks formed in the smoky plate.
He only had a second to enjoy the sight. His split knuckles had barely left the glass before his legs were swept out from under him.
Kaz landed in the dusty gravel with a grunt. He tensed, prepared to roll away or kick out at their legs, but stopped when he looked up to find the end of the rifle pointed at his nose.
Breaths sawing in and out of his chest, he stared up at the intruder grimly. “Gonna shoot me?”
“It might do you some good,” they answered. “You’ve gotten soft, Captain.”
“Soft?” Kaz bristled. He lifted his lip to show off his fangs before spitting, “You invaded my nest. You brought a gun within inches of mymate.You’re lucky I didn’t pull your fucking intestines out of your fucking throat!”
“I could have shot you a dozen times over before you even realized I wasinyour nest,” they replied, toneless.
The fact that it was true only made him angrier. “I—”
“Drop your gunnow.”
Kaz whipped his head toward the door so fast, his neck cracked. Sweat dripped into his eyes, but he had no trouble making out the horrifying sight of Atria, clad only in her white satin nightie, aiming his bolt gun at the tall figure standing over him.
“Atria!” he barked, blood rushing from his face so fast he saw stars. “Get back in the fucking house!”
Of course his fierce little mate didn’t listen to him. She didn’t evenlookat him. Those warm eyes, dark in the moonlight, were fixed on the intruder. Her lips were pressed into a grim line as she crept up the stairs on bare feet. Her expression was one of fervent determination.
It didn’t matter that the massive handgun looked outrageous in her delicate hands. It didn’t matter that she was practically naked. It didn’t even matter that her arms shook under the considerable weight of the gun. The look on her face told him that she wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.
The problem — or perhaps the blessing, in this case — was that he was not at all certain she knew how to.
Their intruder seemed to come to the same conclusion. Somehow there managed to be a flat note of incredulousness in the intruder’s modulated voice when they asked, “Do you even know how to use that?”
Atria’s eyes gleamed. “No, but I don’t need to.”
Kaz opened his mouth to tell her to stop at the same moment that the intruder cocked their head to one side, curious as to what the helpless-looking little witch could possibly do to them. Neither got an opportunity to say a word.
The gun dropped to the gravel at her feet. Magic seared the air the same instant Atria flattened her palms against some invisible barrier andpushed.
He’d never seen someone get hit by a train before, but Kaz imagined it looked something similar to what happened to their intruder. A monumental force slammed into their side, sending them flying clear through the air to slam into the windshield of the stolen car.
Glass and metal folded around them with a sickening crunch. They’d barely twitched a finger before Atria was bracing her bare feet and lifting her hands again. The magic in the air began to reek like fresh blood and a sensation unlike anything he’d felt before crawled over his skin.
It was oily, foreign — an out of body terror that slid over him to arrow straight toward the intruder.
