“Because I came to you with questions, and-and this happened.” She flicked her finger between them, his tormenting scent making her want to crawl back into him. “I kissed you in full view of everyone!”
“So? You want me, and I want you.”
“And then what?”
His brow lowered. “Why must there be athen what?”
Of course, he’d say that. Self-deprecating laughter escaped her. “Well, being who you are, it’s a fair question.”
“Who I am?” His eyes narrowed. “You mean a demon?”
“No—I mean, yes—gods!”
“Right.” His features hardened. “I’m a bit slow on the take when it comes to you,laika, but I get you. Guess this genus I am is too far beneath your angelic feet.” He stepped back. “Go. I won’t trouble you again.”
Urias!This was going all wrong. “That’s not what I meant at all,” she bit out in frustration. “I meant I am aGuardian!Vae—” She rubbed her burning face with both hands. “I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore…” She lifted her troubled gaze to his, and his expression softened a little. “Nate—”
Icy prickles slid down her spine. Ely stilled, all her senses on alert. Nate pivoted to stare into the alley.
A whiff of sulfur with a hint of metal burned her nose. A trace of fresh blood tainted the night air. Blood demons! Those vermin from the Dark Realm were back and hunting prey. Dammit.Sheshould have been out on the street, saving the innocent. Instead, she was kissing Nate, caught up in a whirlwind of emotions that had snuck up on her.
A low growl escaped Nate.
He recognized those odors, too? Ely pushed past him, out of the recessed entrance, sensing the other Guardians taking form nearby. “I have to go.”
“I’ll help.”
“No!” She wheeled around, almost crashing into him, and pressed her palm to his chest. She didn’t want him anywhere near this. “Don’t. The Guardians—”
“Got it,” he cut her off, his mouth tightening. “You don’t want to be seen with me.”
“Nate, stop. Gods!” She exhaled, her gaze darting to the alley as the faint sounds of fighting grew, the need to get moving, pulling at her. “I can’t do this now. I have to go. This is my area of patrol.”
At the shuttered look in his topaz eyes, Ely felt like a brick had lodged in her chest. She swallowed, wishing she could stay and explain things to Nate. But if she didn’t turn up, there would be questions. She took off in preternatural speed toward the ruckus.
Later, she’d talk to him.
* * *
Nate remained in the shadows, watching Ely disappear into the frigid night, mouth tight. It stung that she didn’t want to be seen with him because of what he was.
Hell, a sane part of him knew a moment was all it could ever be between them because he wasn’t just a demon but something worse. He should leave, forget this doomed attraction. Instead, he flashed to the roof of the building above the fracas taking place in a dead-end alley.
Two males clad in black. One he recognized as Shadow’s mate and another with a glint of blue hair he’d seen before, but his gaze latched on Ely’s tall, lithe form. Her long, pale braided hair gleamed beneath the moon, flying like a whip as she fought. They swiftly demolished the lowlifes. But the two humans the bastards had fed on lay unmoving near a huge metal dumpster.
The smell of blood had the beast pacing beneath his skin, talons stabbing at his mind. His jaw clenched.
A familiar odor of burned spice stung his nose, snapping his senses to high alert. Nate tracked the acrid sensation to the eaves of a warehouse, two buildings from the fight, and he blurred across. Derrodus had been so intent on watching the deadly battle, he didn’t even notice Nate. Pain and anger propelling him, he grabbed the demon, flashed to another building still under construction a fair distance away, and flung the fucker to the cement.
“What did you do?” he snapped, standing over Derrodus, hands clenched so he wouldn’t kill the bastard. “You let your horde drain humans?”
The beast shoved at his mind shields.Kiiillll, the sibilant hiss reverberated through his skull.Wantsss blood!
“Not my problem if they’re so frail.” Derrodus rolled to his feet, crimson eyes glowing in annoyance. “I needed a fix, I took it.”
“You brought the fucking Guardians into this! They’ve massacred your pals! Now they’ll be tracking us!”
“They’re expendable, too. But I got what I wanted.” He smirked, revealing bloodstained fangs, triggering Nate’s fury.
