Chapter 15 - Glory
Glory
XV
A growl sounded from behind the shifter, and the bear-man wrenched me around to put me between him and Cammon—the sight of whom would have stolen my breath if I’d had any breath left.
The demon prince stood with his shoulders hunched and his hands curled, claw-like, at his sides, making the muscles beneath his shirt pop.
Horns, black and ribbed, stretched from his brow and curled backwards before curving up, and his eyes—his usually crimson eyes—were black as voids, swirling with intensity and the promise of violence.
He snarled, revealing rows of pointed teeth, and my heart stopped and started again at an even more frantic pace.
Now that my initial shock had worn off, practicality shouted to be heard from beneath my terror.
We had no idea why this shifter had attacked.
If Cammon tore him apart, we would lose any opportunity to find out and might waste more time with more surprise visits.
I gurgled around the shifter’s hold to try to tell Cammon to stand down, but I couldn’t suck in enough air for a single sound to escape me.
My thoughts raced with ideas of how to get free, and my vampiric senses stepped in to assess my surroundings.
Cammon’s gaze was focused on the man behind me, and the shifter was stiff, braced for the demon to attack.
One of his arms had banded around my middle, strong as steel, while the other hand was still wrapped around my throat.
His hot breath fanned against my neck, and my stomach turned.
By the tension in his body and the angle of his head, I sensed he was focused entirely on Cammon, and with Cammon’s attention solely on the shifter, I was more or less forgotten by both men. Which gave me an opportunity.
Unable to take a deep breath to steel my nerves, I settled for wrestling my courage into submission and took advantage of my temporary invisibility.
Bit by bit, I dropped my guard and allowed my vampiric strength to fill my muscles.
The unfamiliar energy surged through me, sharpening my senses and leaving me hyper-aware of every twitch and flicker in my assailant’s hand.
Bells rang in my head, warning that I was taking too great a risk, but I ignored them.
I had to move quickly, before either man noticed.
Putting my faith in my unpractised instincts, I grabbed hold of the arm near my throat and shifted my weight.
The bear-man hadn’t anticipated my response, and as stiff as he was, he couldn’t prevent me from flipping him onto his back.
His breath came out in a whoosh, and before he had time to draw in another, I’d pulled the small knife I used to sharpen my quill from my skirt pocket and pressed the blade against his neck.
The shifter’s eyes were wide, and my heightened senses picked up Cammon’s stillness behind me, the stutter of his heartbeat, the catch of his breath.
“What do you want?” I demanded before either man rallied.
The shifter snarled. “For you to get out of our territory. You’re dragging trouble behind you, and we don’t want to deal with your shit.”
“What kind of trouble? So far we’ve done nothing but walk.” And open a giant, spiky hole in a random glade, but I suspected that detail might hurt our cause so remained silent.
“Mutts.” The shifter spat. “A pack of ’em was sighted creeping along our border.”
Confusion made me loosen my grip. Mutts were known to keep to the more remote areas of the woods. What could have induced them to come out of hiding?
“You must see mutts all the time.” Cammon’s words came out as rough as crushed stone.
The shifter sneered. “They know better. They’re hunting something, and you’re the only people to cross this way. Suggests what they’re hunting is you.”
My confusion deepened. They were after us? I couldn’t think of a single reason why or how we might have caught their attention.
I stared into the man’s eyes, trying to determine if he would come after me again if I let him up.
But it seemed my attack had quenched his desire for blood.
The fact that he was talking, warning us away, reassured me he wouldn’t bother with renewed violence.
Keeping my hands raised, letting him know I wouldn’t fail to defend myself if he assaulted me, I stood slowly.
He shoved himself off the ground, and as soon as he was on his feet, Cammon lunged at him, pushing me behind him.
The shifter retreated, and his scowl deepened when the demon maintained his threatening posture.
Yet before I’d lost sight of Cammon’s face, I’d caught the concern in his eyes that swam beneath his anger. Whatever this warning was about, I got the impression he had his own suspicions.
The shifter straightened. “You have until sundown tomorrow to get the fuck out of our territory, or you won’t get the chance.”
He made to leave, and Cammon closed in on his personal space, his shoulders bulging and his chest flexing to make himself bigger.
Not that he needed to. Compared to the bear shifter, Cammon was less beefy but more menacing.
With his horns exposed and his teeth sharpened, I would have staked my entire small savings on the demon prince winning.
The shifter backed away, not taking his eyes off Cammon until he reached the trees, and then he disappeared into the night.
Once he was gone, Cammon’s black eyes swung to me, appraising me.
I flushed under his gaze and cursed myself.
He might not have been looking directly at me when I’d made my escape, but he was the sort to pay attention.
In saving my life, I’d known I was revealing too much of my hidden nature.
Even if he hadn’t seen what I’d done, there was no way he wouldn’t be curious about how I’d bested a bear.
And as much as it terrified me that he might discover the truth, another part of me—to my horror—was tempted to confess it.
I needed to get out of here. I needed to have a nip of blood and settle my nerves.
Too shaken to be polite, I started towards my tent without saying a word. I was too afraid that if I stayed, he would get something out of me I didn’t want out.
But as I passed by him, Cammon’s arm slipped around my waist. “Did he hurt you?”
At the contact, my already raging blood sparked. “I’m fine.”
Why did it matter that he’d asked? That the fire in his eyes told me that if he discovered otherwise, he would track the shifter down and finish what I’d started?
My breath caught, his eyes dropped to my mouth, and in another breath, he caught my lips in a searing kiss that stole whatever breath I’d regained and sent the sparks in my blood swimming.
I only just had time to taste the distinctly sweet-spiced flavour of his tongue before he pulled away.
His smile was sharp, full of wicked promise, and his black eyes were tight on my face as he took me in, his gaze finally settling on mine.
“You are keeping secrets, aren’t you, Buttons?”
I sucked in a gasp and ordered my heart to slow down. When it refused, I forced the rest of me to pretend as though it had listened. My mask of impassivity fell into place. I straightened my shoulders, stepped out of his grasp, and picked up my waistcoat from where I’d left it.
“Good night, Cammon. I’ll be up and ready to leave at first light.”
Without looking back at him, I walked at an even pace across our camp and ducked into my tent. Although I wrenched the flaps closed and retreated until my back hit the wall, I swore I felt him watching me.