Chapter 2 #3
Her heart raced at the feel of his arms holding her close.
The scent of male and demon…charred birch with pepper, bergamot, rosemary, dried orange, and sandalwood…
it wrapped around her even tighter than his embrace.
And it took everything she had not to bury her nose in his chest and just breathe him in until she was drunk with it.
“What’s happening?” she asked him.
He didn’t answer. Instead, fire emanated out of his body from head to toe. It consumed her, but it didn’t burn.
But what shocked her most was the sight of Luke’s wings. For some reason, she’d assumed they would be black, leathery, and pointed like a bat’s.
Instead, they were made of fire. A fire that blew his wavy hair away from his face where it fanned out all around him.
For the first time, she was actually afraid of him.
Especially when he opened his mouth and she saw the flash of fangs.
“Vade retro me, Satana.” His voice was so low and deep that it reverberated through her.
Suddenly, the windows in her car shattered. As did the windows on every car as far as she could see. In all directions.
SPD was going to curse them for all the reports they’d have to write over this.
One second, they were on the street. The next, they were back inside Luke’s apartment with Helly waiting near the door.
“What happened?” the imp asked.
Luke ignored Helly’s question. “Are you all right?” he asked Sorcha as he pulled away from her. His fire and wings were gone, as was the fear she’d felt, but his fangs remained.
It took her a second to find her voice. “Not sure. What was that?” She gestured out toward the street. “One of the Feral Closet Demons?”
“No. That was Necos.”
Helly drew her breath in sharply at the word.
But Sorcha had no idea what he was talking about. “Necos?”
“Bounty hunters. Freelance shit-stains who’ll track down a target and take it to whoever contracted with them.”
She stumbled back into the arm of his couch and was grateful for its support. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I. They’re normally sent after creatures like me…or Helly. I’ve never known them to be sent after a human before.”
Sorcha’s hands were still trembling. “You said I wasn’t totally human.”
“I say a lot of stupid things.”
“Luke…”
He went to his kitchen and grabbed a giant bottle of rum before he poured two glasses. He downed the first one and brought the other glass to her, scowling.
“I don’t drink.”
He urged her to take the glass. “You might want to start.”
Rolling her eyes, she took the glass and then sipped it.
It hit her tongue like acid. Gasping, she handed it back to him. “That should come with an octane rating.”
His fangs gone, he grinned and knocked back the rest of her rum. “It probably does.”
Sorcha rubbed at her face with both hands as she tried to understand what had just happened. “I saw your wings.”
“Spectacular, aren’t they? Much better than your Dick’s.”
While she appreciated the fact he was trying to make her feel better, she really wasn’t in the mood for his teasing.
“What just happened to me?”
He shrugged with a nonchalance that would have been irritating if he was anyone other than Luke. “The bastard Necos came for you. At first, I thought they were here to get me. But when the lights went out and they didn’t come closer…there was only one target I could think of. You.”
Absolutely lovely. Like she needed another nightmare. “Why me?” She hated that high-pitched note in her voice. She wasn’t normally an overly emotional person, but having demonic bounty hunters out to get her was bringing a level of panic she really didn’t want to experience.
“I don’t know.” Luke held his hand palm upward in front of her. Out of nowhere, a holstered Glock 19 appeared. “I think it’s time you started carrying again.”
“Reyes said—”
“I don’t care what she said. I’ll get this cleared with her in the morning, but until we find out what’s going on, you need to be armed.”
That sounded fine and dandy, except for one thing she wasn’t sure about. “Can this actually kill one of those?” She glanced meaningfully at the gun.
Luke screwed up his face, then shrugged. “Two shots to the head…will most likely slow them down.”
“Most likely?” she repeated sarcastically.
He looked adorably sheepish.
“So it won’t kill them? Why should we risk the captain’s wrath?”
Luke scratched at his cheek. “Honestly, don’t know. It might kill them. Might also piss them off to no uncertain end. I’ve never shot one of them. I find that hellfire works remarkably best on every creature I’ve ever fought.”
“Even your father?”
“Never fought him. While I have more stupidity than most, I draw the line at outright suicide. Trust me, you don’t knock on the devil’s door with impunity. He’s a crabby bastard who wields hellish powers.” Luke popped the magazine out of the Glock, his gaze narrowed.
“What are you doing?”
“You gave me an idea.” He cupped the magazine in his hand for a moment. Suddenly, the bullets glowed as if they were on fire. Sparks danced around them.
Squeaking in fear, Sorcha quickly ran to the other side of the room in case the fire set them off. “Luke! Stop!”
With an innocent expression, he met her gaze as the bullets turned dark again. “What?”
Her heart pounding, she slowly walked back to where he was. Sure enough, the bullets in the magazine appeared normal. “What did you do?”
He returned the magazine to the gun and pulled the slide back to chamber a bullet. “Hellfire bullets. Shoot this and it will stop them now and probably anything else we come up against. Try not to shoot an innocent person.”
“Or you?” Sorcha challenged.
He let out a low, evil laugh. “That would wreck my day and probably your career. Shooting partners, especially one as sexy as I am, is bad for the resume.” He winked.
“Lesson learned.” She pressed her lips together and took the Glock from him and tucked it into the cushion of the chair, barrel down. “Thank you.”
“Don’t be thanking me yet. I have a feeling I’m about to piss you off.” He glanced up at her through his lashes, looking not at all sorry for what he was about to say.
“How so?”
“You need to stay here tonight. I think it’s a bad idea for you to go home alone, even with those bullets.”
While she appreciated the thought, she knew that was a profoundly bad idea. “Luke—”
His expression turned serious. “Sorcha, this isn’t a discussion. You need to stay here.”
Helly agreed with him. “He’s right. Necos aren’t something to be ignored. If you run, they catch. It’s like trying to outrun a cheetah.”
Well, that sounded perfectly dreadful.
And that gave her an all-new worry. “What if they come here?”
Luke laughed. “Let them. I could use the protein. They’re better than chicken.” He set her glass on the counter and refilled it.
Which reminded her of what she’d seen when he’d saved her. “You have fangs.”
“Not all the time,” he said defensively.
She arched a brow. “You never told me this before.”
“You never asked.” He ran a tongue over his perfectly straight, perfectly normal teeth, bringing the cup back to his lips. “Even hellhounds have long canines.”
How would she know to ask that? Times like this, she wanted to choke him. “Any other surprises I should know about? Forked tail? Warts?”
“No. And I usually only have fangs in my canine form.” He shrugged again, that single lift of his shoulder that was both infuriating and sexy.
“Then why did they show up outside?” She settled into the chair, tucking her legs up under her. They’d finally stopped shaking.
Helly appeared on the couch across from her. “The evil took him.”
She scowled at Helly. “The what?”
“Whenever his father’s genes kick in, the wings and fangs come out. Then he usually tears something apart. It is b-r-u-t-a-l!” Helly shivered. “Though to be honest, I like when they spring out, as it warns me that he’s in a feral state. I try not to lip off at him when he’s like that.”
Luke stared aghast at his imp. “I would never hurt you, Helly.”
“I know, but there’s no need in testing that theory. I like my wings and head attached to my body.”
Luke tsked at her fear.
This was all well and good. Except for one thing. “I can’t spend the night here. What would everyone think?”
“That we had sex,” he said matter-of-factly, leaning against the counter and crossing his legs at the ankle, swirling the rum in his crystal glass.
Her cheeks heated as she scowled at him. “Exactly! They’d never believe we didn’t.”
“Why not?”
She scoffed at his ludicrous question. “C’mon!” She gestured at him.
That only made it worse as that salacious smile curved his lips and brought out his dimples.
Damn him for that.
“Don’t worry. You’re safe. Helly will stay here as our chaperone, and I’ll spend the night in my canine form. Just pretend I’m a K-9. And if you want to scratch my belly, I won’t complain.” He wagged his eyebrows at her.
Closing her eyes, she shook her head. Though to be honest, she wasn’t as offended as she was pretending to be.
She’d never seen him as a hellhound before and was curious what he’d look like in that form.
But that also brought up another problem.
“How can you guard me and search for your demons at the same time?”
He gestured at the radio. “I’ll know the minute they misbehave.”
“And if they don’t?”
He shrugged. “Is there any real difference between feral demons and humanity?”
There was one difference she could think of quickly. “Yes. Humans aren’t immortal.”
“Technically not true.”
“How do you figure?” she asked.
“Your body might expire, but souls don’t. They’re also very valuable.” He frowned as if he reconsidered that. “Well, some souls are. Others aren’t worth a pair of shoelaces. Bert wouldn’t even rate snail shit.”
She laughed at those words. “Agreed.”
“I want you safe, Sorcha. Get some rest and I’ll deal with the demons.” Luke held his hands out and a small bag appeared there. He gave it to her. “Toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, hairbrush, nightgown, fuzzy socks, and a change of clothes for the morning.”
Those words stunned her. “How did you know what I was thinking?”