Weakness swamped her, and she swayed slightly. His hand instantly slid to her back, giving her support. Her heart clipped hard, aware he had to step back soon. Leave her alone. Because no demon would approach her with a Guardian at her side.
“I’ll meet you back here in half an hour,” she said softly, because mind-linking was out, not with her walls up. She didn’t want him to sense when she was feeding. It was not sexual for her,sheonly felt warmth and relief, but still…
Nik gave a curt nod.
Inhaling deeply, Shadow briefly touched his back then made her way down the steps in her high-heeled boots, sensing Nik’s eyes boring into her, feeling as if she were going to her doom.
Chapter 28
Agonyand utter possessiveness fisting him, Nik stood on the landing in the nightclub, watching his mate, his heart, having to seek out the worst of the dark species to survive. And he couldn’t do anything to aid her.
The people passing gave him a wide berth.
Hell, he was trying to be fucking strong for her, but he probably looked like the killer he was, with rage and torment seeping off him. Right now, he didn’t give a shit.
His gaze tracked Shadow as she made her way across the crowded floor to the bar. Like the time he’d first seen her here, she ordered a drink. The male next to her vacated his stool. She sat. Nik didn’t bother to tune into their conversation, watching as she waved him off.
Human.
Moments later, a demon approached.
His heart raced. Blood thundered to his head. Shadow smiled, a cocky one that always made him want to yank her close and kiss it off her tempestuous mouth. A smile she now gave to another. Nik felt as if a brick had lodged in his chest.
She glided off the stool, and the demon grinned.
They would find a dark corner, she’d rip his shirt open, touch his skin… He’d seen it the first time. The demon would slide his hand down to her ass, try to kiss her or lick her face, his arousal hiking. Fuck!
Pain lanced him like someone had forced acid down his gullet. Hands clenched the steel railing. Metal bent.
Unable to endure the torment, he strode out of the building, because if he remained, he’d go after the demon and rip him apart—kill anyone who dared approach her. Safer for the denizens that he waited outside.
Away from the stifling nightclub, he stormed down the alley, the urge to keep moving, gripping him by the throat.
Half an hour?
It felt like fucking years!
He kicked a rusty can out of his way.
A downward shift in the breeze floated a hint of sulfur to him…then a faint cry of terror.
Nik slowed his erratic pacing. Hell, yeah! A perfect fucking way to work out his fury until Shadow was done.
He flashed toward the stench of sulfur and slowed in a narrow side lane between two warehouses. Two blights had a struggling female trapped between them. One’s mouth fastened on her neck, the other had his mouth on her breast.
Not the soul-sucking scourges, but blood-fucking-demons.
Because of fuckers like these, Shadow had become what she was. An energy vampire!
His pain and anger coalesced and exploded. Nik shot forward, barreling into the two, breaking them away from the screeching female.
The woman sagged against the building, blinking at him—then at the demons whose features shifted to leathery brown with a jutting fanged jaw and back to human—in terror.
“Run!” he snarled, punching one plague in the face. She’d probably never visit a club again. The other demon growled like some escaped animal and dove at him.
With a shriek, the woman leaped up and scampered off. They probably hadn’t taken much if she could move.
He nailed one in the gut with several ice spears, trapping him, wheeled around for the other. “You couldn’t fucking remain in the Dark Realm?”
