“Water, please,” she said.
She unfastened her black trench coat, revealing fitted leather pants hugging her sexy long legs and a tight tank top. She was hot as fuck.
Desire slid through his veins, hot and thick, and his groin hardened. In the dimly lit, drab place, her moonbeam hair pulled in a high ponytail emphasized her air of innocence, but he knew better. He’d seen her in action and recognized how dangerous she was. Still, she didn’t belong in this shithole. But Ely marched her own path, and he wouldn’t put it past her to come to his hideout just to show him she could.
The silence in the place finally cracked through his irritation.
His gaze shifted to the pool table where all the foul, leathered-up bastards eyed her like horny damn vultures. One skinny mofo, dull leathers sagging down his bony ass, sauntered over and leaned his arm on the counter near her.
“Hey, beautiful,” Pencil-dick drawled, and she smiled—she fucking smiled! The ass nearly toppled over but grabbed the counter instead.
The damn smile lingering, she dropped some bills on the counter, then went motionless, as did Nate… The same nauseating sulfuric odor he’d caught a whiff of in the garage after those fuckers had hurt Aba drifted to him. They were trawling again, taunting him.
Water forgotten, Ely sprinted outside.
No fucking way! She wasn’t going after the sick whoresons!
Nate leaped up, his chair crashing to the linoleum, and he took off.
“Babe, don’t rush off,” the weasel grumbled, hurrying after her just as Nate reached the exit. “Tell me your name—”
Nate wheeled around so fast that the human skidded to a halt. “Don’t. Just don’t! Or I’ll hand you your teeth,” Nate growled, aware his eyes probably flashed red.
The man paled, fear bleeding off him, stirring Nate’s beast side. Ignoring the fucker, he sprinted from the den and went after Ely.
She was further down the pitch-dark alley like a slim column of light, moving fast. Before she dematerialized, he dove and grabbed her arm. “Ely!”
She spun to him, then scowled, yanking at her arm. “What the hell, Nate? Let me go!”
“No. Those demons aren’t here for humans.”
She stopped trying to break free, eyes narrowing. “They’re afteryou.”
“Ely, just let me handle this, okay? Stay here. I’ll go deal with them before your friends come.”
When she opened her mouth, he snapped, “I will tell the Guardians there’s a price on your head,laika. What do you think will happen then?” A low blow, but he didn’t want her hurt, not because of him.
“A price on me?” Spots of red brightened her cheeks and her eyes blistered him like burning copper, stunning him stupid. And all he could do was stare at her. She was breath-taking in her fury. “We shall see about that. Do me a favor and stay out of my way. FYI? You and I will have words before this evening is over.” With her threat hanging in the air, she dematerialized from his hold.
Nate shook his head. Oh, he knew what those words were gonna be about, and for some reason, it made him smile.
Nate flashed after her, reforming somewhere near the warehouses at the waterfront, and found her already taking on the fuckers with her dangerous weapon.
Nate scanned for Derrodus in the horde of blood vermin but didn’t sense him anywhere. He grabbed one of the scourges and slammed him against the wall.
“Sicari.” The cretin grinned, fangs clear of blood. So, he hadn’t fed yet. “You brought the unicorn to us—”
Nate punched him in the mouth. And a screech erupted. He hated that fucking term.
“Never call her that. Touch her, and I swear on all the dark gods, I will make you beg for mercy.”
The demon reared back, blood dripping from his split lips. “Just because you’re Azgor’s pet doesn’t mean you get your way,” he snarled. “The reward says we can deliver her in any form!” He flung out his hand, releasing a deadly hellfire bolt. It torpedoed straight for—
No! Nate flashed in front of Ely, taking the hit in his chest. The sizzling bolt sent him crashing into the wall.
“Nate!” she yelled, throwing a glance at him as she decapitated another vermin. “What is it?”
He shook his head, pain splintering through his ribs and stealing his breath. He couldn’t speak, let alone breathe, or go after the fucker. The air around him intensified with power. More of the Guardians had arrived. Grunts and yells echoed. The sound of flesh hitting flesh thundered.
