If I can get to the front door…
If I can only get inside…
I’m almost to the other end of the alley, mere feet from the safety of the front end of the building, when an enormous hand closes around my middle. My breath heaves from my lungs, my stomach lurching as the ogre drags me from freedom and tosses me back the way I came. I land on my side near one of the waste bins. A surge of pain ripples up my hip, my elbow. But I have no time to dwell on it, for the ogre is already gaining on me yet again. He’s moving slowly, however, as if he doesn’t see me yet. His eyes dart from one side of the alley to the other. Either the shadows cast by Department Lust have compromised his vision, or he hadn’t expected to throw me so far.
Inch by inch, I lift myself halfway off the ground and crawl closer to the wall.
Maybe he won’t see me.
All my hopes plummet as his eyes lock on me. Quickening his pace, he closes the distance between us. Despite the pain in my hip, I force myself to my feet. If I have any hope of getting away, I need to use his size against him. He may be strong and heavy, but he’s a lumbering sort of giant. If I wait until the moment he tries to grab me again, I can evade his clutches and run for Lust’s front door before he even turns around.
My breaths come out in rapid bursts as fear twists my guts. I watch his enormous form close in on me, watch his fist come open, reaching for my middle—
Murtis lurches to the side as a mass of brown fur collides with his shoulder.
A bear.
I can’t tear my eyes away as the ogre goes down with a rumbling thud, the bear on top of him. A green fist collides with the bear’s side, then its head, but the bear doesn’t balk. Its lips are pulled back in a snarl, revealing a mouth full of vicious teeth.
I realize what this bear is.Whothis bear is.
It’s the Huntsman.
Whatever injury the ogre inflicted when he clawed the bounty hunter must not have been too grave. With the Huntsman’s pure fae blood, he would have healed quickly. But now more blood sprays from the bear’s hide as the ogre digs his claws into the Huntsman, pounds his fist into the bear’s face. This time, the Huntsman isn’t the only one bleeding. He gnashes his teeth, rakes claws over the ogre’s arms and face.
I’m torn between seeing how the battle ends and getting to safety. I choose the latter. With trembling steps, I edge around to the other side of the waste bin and begin to creep down the opposite end of the alley from where the fight is. It will take me to the back side of Lust instead of the front. Unlike Wrath, Lust doesn’t have a rear entrance to sneak into. But as long as the two fae males are locked in combat, I’ll have a chance to slip away. I glance at the fighters one more time.
Then I run.
A bellowing roar shatters the air around me, piercing my ears and setting them ringing in its wake. My heart plummets as the sound of pounding footsteps surges behind me. With my feet still flying, I glance over my shoulder, hoping beyond hope it isn’t Murtis but the Huntsman.
No such luck.
The ogre jogs after me, face twisted in fury. Jagged gashes crisscross his face, but it doesn’t slow him down. Too soon he’ll be upon me—
The bear slams into the ogre’s back, sending the creature sprawling forward. I nearly trip in my haste to evade being crushed by him. At the last moment, I whirl to the side toward the building just as the ogre falls. The Huntsman digs his claws into Murtis’ shoulders, pinning him down. Then, in a flash, the bear sinks his teeth into the back of the creature’s neck. Once. Twice.
The ogre twitches, but the bear’s third bite has his body going still. For that’s the bite that severs Murtis’ head from his body.
I stare at the gruesome sight for several moments, watching as blood soaks the alley floor like a macabre pond—black beneath the dark night sky. I can’t blink. Can’t look away. Nor can I stop myself from shaking.
The ogre is dead.
There’s no coming back from a beheading.
Movement catches my eyes, and I lift my gaze from the dead creature to the bear slowly edging off his victim’s back. Blood drips from the Huntsman’s muzzle, mirroring his gore-drenched claws.
Then my attention slides to his rounded ears, his brown flank.
The bear takes a hesitant step toward me. Then another.
My legs are too weak to move.
I swallow hard, my throat as dry as sand. “You’re…you’re…”
“Frightening?” His low voice emanates from deep inside his bear form. Like the kelpie I once met, his lips don’t move when he speaks.
My eyes return to those round ears. “You’re so…”
