“She awaits you. She never stopped searching after you vanished,” he saidquietly.
“Who—who are you?” Her voice held a raucous edge as if she hadn’t used itmuch.
“I’m Dagan, a Guardian of Earth. Shae’s my… She’s under my protection,” he saidinstead.
She didn’t move, her wary gaze fixed on them. “You…you’re one of them. He said you’re all wicked…amoral, and corrupt…you plan to ruin ourworld.”
“Who?”
She blinked, and a dazed expression stole over her face. She rubbed her brow. “I don’tknow.”
Dagan wasn’t surprised. The bastard had probably used mind control with trigger words inplace.
Hedori grabbed the thin sheet off the bed and wrapped it around her, but she shied away. “No.” She pointed to something behind Dagan. “Coat.”
Frowning, he glanced back at the wall, then rose and headed across. He ran his palms over the rugged surface. A click sounded, and it slid open. Clothes filled what appeared to be a closet. A familiar fruity scent…with a hint of spice. A rush of rage brushed hissenses.
Oh. Shit! His gut constricting at his discovery, Dagan touched a black coat—and night flickered in his mind as a vision emerged, revealing a darkalley.
“Don’t—don’t do it…” the Fallen pleaded as he rose in theair.
“Go on, Jenna, you know what I want,” a male voice said. “And what I’ll do to your precious Shae if you donot.”
Ah, hell. Dagan shut off his ability. He didn’t need any more evidence. He’d seen this allbefore.
He glanced back at the cowering woman as he moved his hands over the clothing. She shook her head until he found what appeared to be an older, dark blue coat, and she nodded. He let his senses flow over the fabric… No, this didn’t have rage attached to it. It was hers. He gave the garment to Hedori and headed back into the other room, his mind churning like a geyser about toexplode.
“You dare come in here and steal our Lord Samael’s property? He will kill you,” one of them snarled. Fury pinging like spears inside him, Dagan grabbed a fallen sword and sliced the scourge’s headoff.
Seconds later, Hedori appeared with the female cradled to his chest and strodeoutside.
“Let’s deal with theseassholes.”
Dagan barely heard Aethan. With a flash of his mind, he removed all their weapons and let the daggers slice brutally across their jugulars. Blood sprayed like a waterfall, drenching them. Heads rolled, and the demons fell. Aethan cocked a brow at him. “You’re one terrifyingbastard.”
Dagan grunted, watching the disintegrating corpses. “Am I? I’ve seenyou.”
A wry bark of laughter left Aethan. “My scariness is known by all. But witnessing yours? Man, it sure is something tobehold.”
“True.” The warrior nodded. “I guess having mates changes our perspective on life. Everything is about them, isn’t it? Why we hone our abilities whenever we can, so they’resafe.”
He didn’t respond to the truth of Aethan’s words. Because one thing he knew, no matter the rough road ahead of them, he’d do anything to protect Shae. “I’d lay down my life for her. She probably doesn’t need me to keep her safe, but I’ll do itanyway.”
But with the damn dark cloud of his need for stronger blood hanging between them, the outlook wasn’t promising. Atall.
“Shit!” Dagan cursed as what the demon had said clicked. “Samael! He’s not Fallen, he’srogue.”
Aethan frowned. “Why the hell would he want Jenna? He still has his ownabilities.”
“Who knows with these fuckers? It’s probably not to draw Michael’s attention. What better way than to use a psi to get what he wanteddone.”
“We’re in for one helluva shit-show now,” Aethan muttered. “Let’s get outta here and destroy the damn place. Maybe we’ll get lucky, Samael will show his face sooner and we can end thescourge.”
Dagan headed outside, the odor of sulfur burning his gut. “There’s something else. Jenna is whom I’ve been tracking these past months. She’s the psychic killer. The scent, the images I picked up from her clothes, everythingmatches.”
Aethan’s eerie, gray eyes took on hints of his whitefire power and shifted to Dagan. “Sorry, man. That suresucks.”
Yes. Shae would be devastated to learn the truth. A death sentence now hung over hermother.
