He kissed her, promising to be back within minutes.Withouthis shadow wings, he had to manually engage thekhotewith a command,and then he flashed inside Drayger’s living room.But before he’d fullymaterialized, the stench of blood and terror stung his nostrils.
Something was wrong.Horribly wrong.
Cursing, he summoned a weapon to the ready, an electricalshock that would stun anyone—or anything—he encountered.
Noises came from the back of the house...crying?He moveddown the hall, slowing at the trickle of blood that flowed from the masterbedroom.
Fuck.A sharp, piercing ache pounded in his chest.IfDrayger had slaughtered another female, Hawkyn would never forgive himself.Steeling himself for the worst, he stepped inside the room.
Turnedout that there was no way hecould have prepared himself for the bloodbath in front of him.The walls,ceiling, furniture, everything was splattered—and it wasn’t just blood.Bits offlesh, entrails, and even teeth had found their way intoallofthe nooks and crannies.
And all of it belonged to Drayger.The leg on the bed.Thearm on the floor.The other arm hanging from the ceiling fan.Hawk didn’t wantto know where his head was.
Damn, this house was going to have to be torn down, becauseno one was going to want to live here after these crime scene photos got out.
A noise startled him, and he spun, instinctively summoning ascythe.A female, naked and covered in gore, huddled in the closet, one handpressed against a nasty gash in her thigh.She looked familiar, but why?
He stepped out of thekhoteand became fullyvisible.She didn’t even look surprised.Her glazed eyes took him in withwariness but not fear.
“Who are you?”She scurried out of the closet, putting morespace between them and moving closer to the door.“Are you going to kill me?”
“Kill you?What?No.”He spoke softly, afraid to spook her.“I came here to make sure he didn’t hurt anyone else.Are youallright?Did he hurt you?”
Flexing her fingers like a cat, she growled, a deep, throatysound he wouldn’t have been surprised to hear from a tiger.“Not this time, hedidn’t.”
“Soyoudid this?”Whenshe didn’t answer, he took a closer look at the carnage, and suddenly, hermannerisms made sense, especially when matched with the claw and teeth marks onthe body parts and the ripped women’s clothes on the floor.“You’re a shifter.Lion or tiger.Right?”Shifters often destroyed their clothing when theymorphed from human body to their animal form.At her continued silence, hesighed.“Well, he deserved to die, so good job.”
He wholeheartedly approved of her brand of justice.Hopefully Aurora wouldn’t be too disappointed, but he could, at least,guarantee that the authorities learned the truth about Drayger.The photo albumof his victims sat on the dresser, obscene in its blatant spot out in the open,and it wouldn’t be difficult for the cops to figure out where his dungeons wereonce they knew what they were looking for.
The female’s voice trembled as she spoke.“You...you knowwhat he was?”
“I know far too much about what he was.”He frowned.“How doyouknow?Who are you?”
She took the photo album off the dresser, handling it as ifit were a live grenade as she flipped it open and handed it to him.His gutdropped to his feet at the pictures of a dead, dismembered woman who was thespitting image of the female in front of him.
And now he knew why she looked familiar.
“Ah, shit,” he said roughly, slamming the book closed.“WasLexi your twin sister?”
“No,” she said, her voice a low, tortured growl.“I’mLexi.He tortured and killed me.”She grabbed one of Drayger’s green and yellowOregon Duck T-shirts off a hanger and slipped it on, covering herself all theway to mid-thigh.“I had nine lives.I’m down to six.”
What the hell did someone say to that?He could only imaginehow much it would suck to live through three deaths and remember them.And shehad more to go.Poor female was going to need a lot of therapy.
Sirens sounded in the distance, growing louder.
“I’m sorry,” he said lamely.“But we’d better go.Can I takeyou somewhere?”
Her eyes narrowed, skepticism creeping into her posture, andhe couldn’t blame her.“I don’t think so.”
“I’m an angel,” he said gently.“You can trust me.I cantake you almost anywhere you want to go.”
Her dubious snort was accompanied by further narrowing ofher eyes until they were little more than slits.“Angels kill my kind, and I’mnot ready to die again.”
“I’m not that kind of angel.”He wasn’t sure what kind ofangel he even was anymore.He might benokind of angel soon enough.
But one thing hewassure of was that, angel ornot, he was going to be a fucking great father.
She gestured to the deep laceration in her leg.“Are youfamiliar with Underworld General Hospital?”
