“Yes.” The fae’s mouth tipped up into a little smile. “I like variety.” His eyes flashed an eerie silver, blinding Nate for a second, throwing him off guard, and nearly snagging his mind. It would have worked, if Nate didn’t have the detestable symbionts blocking any unwanted mental intrusion.
“Tell me,” the fae crooned, eyes settling back to ebony.
A damn dark fae.
“You dicks never learn, do you?” Nate lunged, plunging his talons into the fae’s chest and ramming him against the opposite brick wall. Confusion and fury replaced the fae’s smug demeanor, his human glamour fading, revealing the ethereal creature with an aura as black as his eyes. Perfect.
“You feel different,” the fae breathed. “What are you?”
“Your vilest nightmare. Set the female free. Or I will kill you.” Nate twisted his talons, drilling his point home.
Grunting, the fae turned his head. Whatever he did, the girl gasped. The moment she hightailed it out of there, Nate moved closer, and the fae smirked. He didn’t seem to care that Nate could behead him with his claws alone. So, the bastard liked pain?
Nate let his mouth hover close to his prey’s, allowing his beast side to emerge a little.
The fae’s leer vanished. His eyes widened in horror, unable to move as Nate trapped him with a stare alone and started siphoning on that emotion, satiating his ravenous symbiont. The malevolent creature within him stilled its agonizing clawing of his mind and feasted on the fae’s terror instead…
* * *
As the last demon disintegrated and seeped into the ground, Ely palmed her glaive and glanced around, chest heaving. She found Aethan scanning the now quiet area.
“I’ll go check the surroundings, do a recon, see if any more are lurking,” she said quickly before he did. She couldn’t sense Nate around, but if he was, and Aethan found him—they’d consider him a part of the hordes currently attacking humans and kill him. Andthatshe refused to let happen.
“All right.” Aethan nodded and joined Nik, who crouched near the dead humans.
“The Arc’s going to lose his shit,” Nik muttered. “Two victims tonight.”
Aethan squatted next to him as Nik took several snapshots. Ely cast a quick look at the drained bodies, their faces ravaged and their jugulars ripped out. Deeply carved in each victim’s forehead were several slashes. It could be an initial, but she wasn’t sure with all that gore.
“It looks like an M or N,” Aethan murmured, and Ely frowned. “Can’t have the human authorities getting an inkling that otherworldly beings caused this.” They both rose to their feet.
A white flare rolled out of Aethan’s palm, and his deadly power of whitefire swept through the bodies, turning them to ash within seconds. These humans would become another statistic of unexplained disappearances in their world.But not for us.This was now the Guardians’ business. Humans died onherwatch…
While I was with Nate.
Remorse tracked bile up her throat. She pressed her fingertips to her temple to ease the throb of guilt pulsing there. Then she remembered how she and Nate parted ways earlier, and her stomach knotted. She had to find him and put things right.
Ely dematerialized and coasted through the Bowery, searching for him…
Her senses locked onto Nate’s licorice and woodsmoke scent, and she reformed in a narrow, dingy alley. Two steps in, and she stumbled to a halt. A burst of pain shot through her chest, strangling the air in her lungs. Not an hour had passed since he kissed her as if she were all he wanted, and now he was locking lips with another.
It took several moments before she could shut off the hurt corroding her insides like acid and strode across to him. “We need to talk,” she said in a low, cold voice.
His head snapped her way, topaz eyes burning…with passion? For the guy? Well, fine. She didn’t care.
Nate pushed the man aside, and he slumped against the wall, a lustful expression on his face, looking like he was ready to go all the way. And cool as hell, as if he just hadn’t mouth-fucked some male, Nate stalked over and grasped her arm.
She yanked free. “Don’t touch me.”
“Not here,” he growled.
Her gaze flicked back to the male, another immortal. One of the Fae, judging from his pointed ears and pale complexion. “You can go back to your boyfriend in a minute. This won’t take long—eeek!” She squeaked as he hauled her to him and flashed.
The moment they reappeared on squishy ground, she slammed her palms on his chest, shoving away. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You’re a Guardian. What do you think will happen when I speak to you in a place which is a hotbed for demon activity?” he demanded. “And just so we’re clear, you didn’t want to be seen with me. So, much safer here, isn’t it?”
Her brow creased. “What?”
