A sudden uproar had her shooting to her feet. Malevolence crashed over her like a wave of barbed wire, strangling her breath?—
“Oh, no!” She raced back downstairs and across the sunken living room. As she neared the still-ajar foyer door, she saw them. Jittering dark shapes with red eyes peered through the gap. Fiery bolts of power slammed through the doorway, but they hit the mystical barriers in an explosion of sizzling sparks, then fizzled out. The demons roared with rage.
Nia slammed the door shut.Thank you, wards.
Without them, she and Lore would be toast. She raced around the living area, checking that every window and door was bolted, just in case.
Oh, shit! My room!
She flashed herself upstairs. All locked up, thank God.
Nia stood there, gasps of air skipping down her throat to her burning lungs. Her gaze locked on an unconscious Lore, a sense of utter helplessness constricting her.
Despite her new, stupid power of fire, one she couldn’t even summon, she had no hopes of surviving an attack if they somehow broke through the wards. Those demons could kill her with a flick of a hand.
The buzzing beneath her skin intensified. The raucous noise in her head clamored so loud she moaned, grabbing her head, feeling as if her brain would explode, as if she had no control over her thoughts. Her mind darted through the unoccupied rooms of the abbey, then flew past dark skies studded with stars…a sunny meadow…a hall, angels, younger ones, practicing discordant tunes on their instruments?—
No!She stumbled back, kneading her dizzy head with the heels of her palms.
What was happening to her? Why would all these images of things she never usually thought about bombard her?
Growls erupted, the cacophony hauling her back to the demons in the courtyard, trying to break through the wards.Dammit!
She grabbed Lore’s pewter dagger from the side table, the one he’d used to cut off her underwear, and darted for the workroom overlooking the courtyard.
Kas’ minions? They had to be.
How had they even found her when he was dead?
Panting hard, Nia stopped at the window and clutched the sill. A blast of fire rained down on the courtyard, turning everydemon into ash in a heartbeat. Where moments before chaos had reigned, now there was only silence.
What in the ever-loving hell?
She peered up through the foggy glass, and as the mist separated…
Oh, shit!Her gaze latched onto something she never believed possible. Angels and demons, yes, but this? She’d thought them a myth.
A gargantuan black dragon soared down to land in the courtyard amidst the crumbling ash piles and melted snow flooding the granite yard. Mammoth leathery wings settled against its ginormous body.
The creature oozed menace.
A low growl rumbled deep in its throat, and she gripped the window ledge harder. Its head, bigger than a small car, lowered to the ground. Virulent claret eyes swept over the courtyard and then looked up directly at her with slitted pupils.
Eeep!She stumbled back.
Right before her eyes, the dragon shimmered and sort of folded into itself, revealing a naked male…
Race?
He vanished.
Nia wheeled around and halted as he took form in the workshop. No longer stark naked, he wore drawstring black pants, his feet bare. He fastened his long, silver hair into a messy bun.
“Well, that certainly relieved my boredom. Where’s Angel Boy? Shouldn’t he have handled these mofos?”
“You-you…that-that…” Words failed her as she flung a hand toward the window, her mind still struggling to process what she’d witnessed.
He smirked, revealing a bit of his deadly fangs. His eyes remained the same claret hue as those of the mystical creatureshe had just witnessed killing a horde of demons in one fiery breath. But without the viciousness. His pupils were back to normal.
