Kira panted as she ran. Dammit. It freakin’ hurt to breathe but she didn’t let that stop her.
“Oomph!”She crashed into a rock-hard body suddenly appearing in front of her, pain spearing her already bruised lungs.Crap, not again!Freakin’ demons! Adrenaline surging, she rammed her blade towards the scourge’s chest, but he was faster. He grabbed her arm, pinning it to her back, her front plastered to his. Her blade was gone. At the familiar scent of citrusy bergamot and green pine teasing her nose…
Oh, hell. She bit back a groan. Nothim.
“You’re in so much trouble,” Týr snarled. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head like some robot, struggling to get her breath back.
“Don’t fuckin’ lie. I smell blood.” He pushed her back a bit, his icy gaze skimming over her. Despite all their squabbles, Kira had never ever been afraid of Týr. But facing him here, like this…she really, really wished she could dematerialize.
Startling her, he cupped her chin in one huge palm, his grip firm but not hurtful. His mouth thinned, his thumb wiping away…blood? Her face stung, especially with the freezing cold, but she hadn’t realized it was bleeding.
He lowered his head, and his warm tongue glided over her left cheek, shocking her speechless. Her heart thumped so hard in her chest, Kira was sure it would crash through her ribs as he licked again over where the demon’s claw had hurt her.
Týr looked up, and eyes about as warm as granite skimmed over her face once more. “Don’t. Move.” Then, he vanished.
Kira inhaled a shuddering breath. What’d just happened? One minute, he was chewing her head off, and the next, he was licking her. A palm pressed to her chest over her unstable heart, she raised her other hand to her cheek.
Instead of getting the hell outta there like any sane person would, away from Týr’s wrath, she pivoted to the ruckus. Her eyes widened at the gruesome scene before her. Screeches grew as bodies hit the building walls with sickening thuds.
She easily spotted Elytani’s creamy-blond hair amidst the horde of demons and picked out Aethan by his height. Týr flew into the fight like a slingshot—a huge one—taking several down. A fiery, elongated glow took form, and her heart skipped a beat.
Thatwas the famous, mystical Gaian sword Echo had told her about, the one that couldn’t ever be summoned unless supernatural evil was about. Kira had never seen any of the Guardians in action while on the job. They fought brutally, without mercy, and were utterly terrifying.
Shit, she had to get moving. Kira wheeled around and ran up to where Liam stood and watched the fight—eyes gone thrice its size. She grabbed his arm and yanked him out of his stupor. “Let’s get out of here.”
Remaining in an alley choked with demons wassooonot at the top of her list of priorities. Safety was, especially from a certain furious Guardian.
“You okay?” Liam rasped as they dashed up the street.
“I’m fine—” A small figure barreled toward them, hitting her hard in the chest and cutting off her words. Kira staggered back, gasping for air. Man, what was with people slamming into her?
“You lied!” Another shove. “You said you had no boyfriend!”
“Whoa there, Tomas.” Liam grabbed him.
“Tomas?” Kira echoed.
Tears glistening in his dark eyes, the boy smashed his elbow into Liam’s belly and darted free. “You just like everyone else. A liar!” Tomas whirled around and tore off into the night.
“Tomas, wait!”
Liam snagged her arm before she could follow. “I’ll go after him. You have bigger problems.” His anxious gaze darted down the alley to the fracas. “That guy looked angry enough to kill you. You should get out of here, I’ll call you.”
That brought Kira right back to her current predicament. Dammit, she couldn’t go after Tomas. It would only land her in more trouble. “It’s okay. I know him. He’s all bark and no bite. I’ll be fine.” She barely stopped from snorting. Týr would undoubtedly lambast her while wringing her neck for lying. “Go. I’m leaving anyway.”
Liam took off. Since she couldn’t go back to the brownstone without a key—becausehehad it—she clamped down her frustration and pulled out her cell from her jacket pocket to call for retrieval.
So freaking irritating to have no say in her own life anymore.
