She tugged at his arm and tried to break free, but the fiend’s grip tightened around her ribs, compressing her chest. She cried out.
Blaéz stopped a few feet away. Despite his calm expression, his eyes were like a void. He said so softly Darci barely caught his words, “You should have never touched my female.”
The skinhead stiffened. A gurgling sound escaped him. Hands flailing, he grabbed at his head. Freed, Darci stumbled away, inhaling several harsh breaths into sore lungs. The man’s eyes bulged. As if trapped in a nightmare, Darci watched. A dull explosion sounded—chunks of flesh and bone flew all over the asphalt, but instead of blood and gore, ash rained down.
Shocked to her core, she stood there, her heart near crashing through her chest. Her gaze fixed on the dust-coated ground where the man had been. Whispered, “You-you killed him.”
“Youshould have stayed where I left you.” Cold. Pitiless.
Darci turned and met eyes of burning ice. She balked.
“Thatwas a demon who could have hurt you.”
“What?” She blinked. But he looked so normal.Human.
“Demons?” Declan repeated, leaning against the wall, his face ashen. “Christ Jesus, what a fucking nightmare!”
Unlocking her shaky knees, Darci hurried to her brother, hastily bypassing the immobile thugs. She pushed Declan’s hand aside and lifted his shirt, her stomach churned. The three-inch gash on his abs bled profusely. Sweat beaded his forehead.
“Dammit, Dec,” she snapped in fear. “You should have just paid them.”
He expelled a pained breath. “I tried to at first, but they wanted all the money. I don’t have that kind of cash—and no, I won’t take any from you.”
God. Darci bit the inside of her lip so she wouldn’t yell at him. With nothing to staunch the flow except for the damn check in her pocket, she grabbed the ends of his shirt and pressed it to the seeping lesion.
Blaéz stopped beside her, moved her hand off Declan’s stomach, and pushed the bloody fabric aside. He laid his open palm over the injury. A silvery blue light coalesced from his hand to hover over the stab wound.
“What the hell are you doing?” Declan jerked back.
“Healing you.” Blaéz stopped. His hand still filled with that pale light. “You could go to a doctor. But I am faster. Your choice.”
“Please, Dec—” Darci pleaded. “Let Blaéz heal you. Unless you want Grace to see you this way?”
Declan shifted and grimaced. His features taut with pain, he nodded.
As Blaéz healed him, she asked, “Is it serious?”
“No.”
Despite his even response, his fury swirled around her like a living, breathing thing. Oh, hell, this wasn’t going to end well for her.Damn, damn, damn.
Darci tried to figure a way out of this quagmire she’d inadvertently landed in…and her panicked mind drew a blank. She’d seen the knife plunge at Declan, and simply reacted.
The wound knitted and closed, leaving a red scab. Blaéz dropped his hand.
Declan pulled off his shirt and cleaned the smears on his belly. “Thanks.” The word came out from between clenched teeth.
Darci sighed.
“What are you?” he asked flat out.
“I’m a Guardian of this realm. I keep humans safe from supernatural evil—from demons. And Darci is mine,” Blaéz said, his warning clear. Then continued, “There are Otherkin who live in this world. While most want a quiet life, there are evil ones, too. Several demons work these cages for the humans.”
“Yeah?” Declan pulled Darci protectively to his side. “Go on.”
Blaéz glanced at her but said nothing at Declan’s actions. Darci knew the calm was deceptive.
“Daniel was unaware that the friendly bet he’d made with a few of these thugs was the real deal. It’s how they get live bait for their fights, and the reason it’s an “underground” fight. With the authorities having no idea these places exist, they trap humans into bets they can’t afford. With little choice, they fight. They die,” a shrug of his shoulder, “the demons take care of the evidence. If the humans live, the money’s good.”
