“I hit you!” the robber was babbling. The biker crouched down and lifted his visor. I couldn't see his face, but whatever the robber saw made him cry out. I watched with amusement as he pissed himself.
“What are you?” the robber said, scrambling backwards until he came up against a cooler full of drinks. He curled into a ball and started babbling the same thing over and over again. “Don’t take my soul. Don’t take my soul.”
Huh, that was interesting.
When the biker stood up and turned, I noticed a hole in his jack, right where a breast pocket would be on a man’s suit.
“You’re shot!” I exclaimed. I rushed over to the stranger and shouted at the cashier. “Call an ambulance.”
“I tripped the alarm, everyone will be on their way,” the cashier said. “And I’m out.”
I looked over my shoulder to see her walk away with a purse over her shoulder. I couldn’t blame her. I wouldn’t risk my life for this job either. Still, it would've been nice if she stayed to help now that we weren’t in danger any longer.
I turned my attention back to the biker. He was fiddling with the complicated clasp on his helmet. I didn’t care about that. I needed to find the wound so I could put pressure on it.
“You’re going to be okay,” I said, surprised that there wasn’t any blood soaking through his jacket. Maybe this would be one of those instances where the bullet got lodged in an antique silver cigarette case or something like that.
I unzipped his jacket and pulled it apart only to find a bullet hole in his shirt but still no blood. What the hell was going on?
Determined to find his wound, I tugged his shirt free of his pants and pulled it up to be greeted by a hard, male chest with no evidence of any bullet hole. Not even a scratch.
As I ran my hand all over his chest, something fell out from inside his shirt and tinged when it hit the floor. I looked down to see a slug at our feet. I was still holding his shirt up so when my eyes returned to his chest, I got to see a wave of emerald-green scales flash over his chest and then he was back to normal human skin.
By now he’d gotten his helmet off, and I knew whose face I’d see when I looked up.
“As much as I’m enjoying your touch,” he said. “I’d rather do this in private.”
Embarrassed, I pulled my hand away as if he’d burned me, let go of his shirt with my other hand, and stepped back.
“Marduk, what are you doing here?”
For some reason, my question made his smile brighten. “You know me.”
“Of course I know you,” I huffed. “You and Danzig are constantly showing up in my life. You can’t tell me that this is a coincidence.”
“I meant that you never mistake me for Danzig,” he stated, ignoring my annoyed tone. “You're the only human who’s ever been able to tell us apart.”
I shook my head, marveling that anyone could mistake one brother for the other. “You guys might be twins, but there are obvious differences.”
He tilted his head. “What differences?”
The question distracted me from my annoyance. “Your hair is a little darker, and your eyes are a deeper shade of emerald green than Danzig’s. I’m surprised you guys cut your hair in the same style, though.”
His grin turned hopeful. “How would you like us to style our hair?” As he talked, his hair grew long, extending to his shoulders. “Here? Or longer?”
I’d never liked long hair on men until now. I had to curl my hands into fists to keep from touching the luxurious, dark-brown locks. It wasn’t fair that he was so damn handsome!
“Why are you here?” I asked, forcing myself to focus on being irritated instead of entranced.
His expression turned blank. “I was out for a ride and needed to get gas.”
“You just happened to end up at the same gas station as me?”
“Yup,” he said. I was going to call him a liar when his expression turned hard. “It’s a good thing too. What were you thinking? That man had a gun. Those weapons are deadly to humans!”
Even though I’d met many magical creatures in the last two months, it still felt weird to hear him refer to me as a human. It was a little like the sci-fi romance books I liked to read where human women were being carried off by handsome, buff aliens.
I’d never admit it out loud, but I liked it.
