“Or what?” I spat.
He narrowed his eyes. “Fine. You can die with your boyfriend, then.”
I whirled to my feet, launching at his midsection. We flew and slammed onto the concrete, my weight pinning him down as I punched his face. My knuckles cracked against the bone of his jaw and I felt a sick satisfaction at the sound.
But the man was grinning.
“What are you smirking about?” I snapped.
“You,” he said, ignoring the blood that trickled down his nose. “You’re going through all this effort to defend a demon.”
“He’s not a demon,” I snarled.
He ignored the spittle that flew across his face. To my shock he laughed. “He could have used someone like you before.”
Cold dread stirred in the pit of my stomach. “What?”
“This isn’t the first time someone’s tried to kill him.”
“I know that.” I glimpsed the meek looking arsonist from the corner of my eye. “Your little friend tried to kill him twice already.”
The man beneath me laughed again. I cringed at the awful noise.
“Him? We barely know him,” he said. I wanted to punch the smug grin right off his face.
“Then why did you post his bail?” I snarled, fisting his shirt collar.
“Because it shouldn’t be a crime to kill a demon,” he muttered.
My hands loosened their grip. I sat back, staring at him in disbelief. The cruel desire to tear this man apart was overwhelming.
“It was you, wasn't it?” I asked quietly. “That forest fire last year.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.” A moment like an eternity passed, and then he spoke again. “And if I had the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn’t make the same mistake by lettingthatone live.”
Fury exploded inside me. I punched him hard across the face. His demeanour didn’t change. He slowly turned his head back to glance at me.
“You’re a bear, too, aren’t you?” he asked. “So why are you knocking me around in this form? A bear could end me in one swipe.”
“I don’t need my bear to deal with you,” I snarled.
“Something happen with it?” he asked. “Your bear hurt someone by accident, is that it?”
I growled low in my throat.
“You’re dangerous,” he spat. “Yourboyfriendis dangerous. You all are. I was doing this world a favour by taking you all out.” He paused and glared daggers at me. “Too bad the fire missed a couple.”
I slugged him across the face again. “You’re disgusting!”
“The… fire?”
My head shot up. Liam was blinking and staggering in the man’s clutches like he was dizzy. I grunted and pushed myself off the ground, running to his side. The man holding Liam seemed hesitant to let go, but decided he didn’t want the same beating I’d given the other guy. He backed off with a curled lip.
I grabbed Liam and pulled him into my arms. I immediately checked him over for injuries, but found nothing except that he was covered in ash and dust.
“Liam,” I said, stroking his hair. I pulled back and watched his face. “Are you okay?”
“Something about a fire,” he mumbled, shaking his head. “I can’t remember…”
