Page 35 of Ignited

Boomer went over to her and laid his hand on her head. Karisma stood up, yawned, and rubbed her head against his thigh. Great. Just great.

Sanchez lowered his weapon slightly. He was still radiating pissed-off alpha vibes. It was giving Boomer a headache.

“You brought a damn tiger home to fuck?” Sanchez exploded. “Why the hell would you do that? Why is she out alone? Didn’t you fucking warn her about Madison before you let her run? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He turned on Cisco and Matéo. “Did you two know about this? Does Gunn know about this?”

Gunn pushed his way through the crowd. “No, I didn’t.” He faced down Boomer. “And I would also like to know why you brought an unauthorized shifter onto this base and let her run wild. Would you care to explain?”

No. No, he really wouldn’t.

And then it got worse. A low, gravelly voice spoke from the edge of the crowd. “I would also like an explanation.”

Boomer turned around. The crowd parted like the Red Sea before Moses.

Standing facing him was a man—or something—in a hooded brown robe, like a medieval monk. The hood was so deep and dark you couldn’t even see his face—just a glint of eyes now and then. At his shoulder stood a thin, hollow-cheeked man with a shock of bleach blond hair. Azúcar, also known as Sugar. Thanatos’ chief lieutenant.

And the person in the robe was Thanatos himself.

Chapter 16

Boomer was so, so fucked. They both were.

Thanatos never came out of the Big House. People came to him. The fact that he’d come out for Karisma made Boomer’s stomach go cold.

“Thanatos,” he said. “My man. What are you doing out? The sun’s coming up. Don’t you burst into flames or some shit?”

From somewhere off to his left, he heard his friend Dealer murmur, “He’s a troll, not a vampire. He turns to stone.”

Thanatos slowly turned the hood in that direction. “Silence.”

The tone of his voice made everyfuckingbody shut up. People at the edges of the crowd started melting away.

Thanatos turned back to Boomer. “You have brought a rogue tiger into my territory. One who reeks of magic.”

Thank you, Captain Obvious. “Was there a question in there?”

Thanatos’ voice got even more ominous. “Yes. Why?”

But Boomer didn’t get a chance to answer. The minute he’d said Thanatos’ name, Karisma started growling. And now she sprang through the air, snarling and heading straight for Boomer’s boss.

Sanchez raised his gun. Boomer threw himself at Sanchez, smacking into him just in time to throw his aim off.

Sanchez snarled and went wolf.

Thanatos raised his hand. Translucent red light shot out of it and the tiger froze in mid-air, legs all splayed out, mouth open like Han Solo being encased in carbonite.

She panicked, her eyes going wild, strangled sounds coming from her throat.

Everyone else froze too, except for Boomer. His wolf was screaming, Protect! Protect!

Boomer turned and aimed his gun at Thanatos. “Put her down,” he said. “Now.”

Sugar cocked his gun and aimed it at him. Sanchez snarled at Boomer and bunched himself to attack.

Gunn’s voice boomed through the tension. “Enough.” His alpha mojo rolled out over all the wolves who hadn’t managed to sneak away—and the rabbit—practically flattening them. He was pissed.

Everybody froze again.