Eddi?
He ducked a blade coming at him, leaped up, and plunged his iron dagger straight into the soul sucker’s heart. Another blight dove for Eddi, and he stumbled, barely managing to evade a hellfire bolt from the third scum. The fourth grinned like a damn hyena.
“Well, now, this doesn’t seem fair,” Nik drawled. “Four against one?”
Heads snapped around in Nik’s direction, their eyes glowing like neon red moons in their gaunt faces. “Get lost. He’s ours,” one snarled.
“I don’t think so.” Nik held out his hand, summoned his Gaian sword appearing in an eddy of gray smoke.
The demoniis stilled. “It’s one of them Guardians,” one rasped.
“Eddi, move!”
The human ducked. Nik flew into them, his sword swinging, decapitating one of the scourges. A sharp pain splintered his back. Grunting, Nik summoned his obsidian dagger, and let it fly as he spun around, nailing the shithead in the heart.
A shriek ricocheted in the tunnel. The other scuttled away. Nik flashed across, his sword swinging, and he beheaded the demonii. Breaths sawing in and out of his lungs, he pivoted to find Eddi slicing the throat of the one he’d stabbed.
“I sensed you were different, even with the homeless camouflage,” Eddi said. “I didn’t realize just how much.”
Nik dismissed his sword. At the discomfort of the blade embedded in his back, he shoved it out with his mind. The weapon clattered to the ground, and the burning lesion healed.
Eddi studied the obsidian dagger he’d picked up from where the demonii had disintegrated, then handed it over. “Why are you here?”
Since the human knew about Others in this world, Nik didn’t believe in bullshitting around. “Homeless women and children are being abducted and taken to the Dark Realm—the demon world. You know anything about it?”
Lines furrowed Eddi’s brow. “Rumors, nothing concrete. Women and kids come here to The Refuge for a bit, but they leave. We don’t always know if it’s by their own will or not.”
“The gang leaders?”
Eddi shrugged. “Rough’s an asshole. Tolvi doesn’t come here, not his turf, but both are blights to this world. Rough with his drug dealings and abducting women for his own use. If he’s behind it, I don’t know. It’s why I keep my Shadow safe. They know I would castrate them if they ever come after her.” Eddi shot him a hard, warning glare.
Yeah, got it.
He wasn’t good enough for her. He knew that.
But he refused to let another innocent under his watch become a statistic. “Good. She’s asleep. Keep an eye on her. I’ll be back.”
Nik dematerialized and headed for the labyrinths beneath Tribeca in search of the other gang leader. At least Eddi could hold his own while he was gone.
But one thing was definite. He wasn’t leaving Shadow behind when he departed this hole.
Chapter 7
Nooo!Shadow jerked awake, a scream strangled in her throat at the stinging pain on her back, her heart drumming against her ribs like war drums.
As the phantom lashes on her back faded, she took in the familiar gloomy basement, a shuddering breath escaping her.
“Just a dream—a dream,” she whispered, a shiver sweeping through her. She huddled beneath the thin cover, a bone-deep coldness scraping her skin like bruising fingernails.
Christ, she scrubbed her burning face with icy hands. It was a miracle she’d fallen asleep. Usually, when she did manage to catch a wink or two, those same nightmares of being beaten plagued her.
Summoning every bit of her flagging energy, she rolled to her feet and stumbled to the tiny bathroom. Another wave of shivers coursed through her, and she wished she had access to a hot shower instead of a basin with cold water.
A spot wash later, her teeth clacking, she topped up her old Aquafina bottle with water and drank the icy liquid—
Oh, crap. How could she forgethim?
Her pulse tripping, she dropped the bottle on the basin and darted back into her room, but the spot Nik had occupied was deserted.
