The Witching Hour (The Grim Reaper Saga (Urban Fantasy Romance)) (9 page)

Then her eyes widened as the silhouette of the man she’d seen standing by the dumpster appeared by the Demon’s elbow. He was whispering words she couldn’t decipher.

The demon grinned and then his gaze zeroed in on her. That’s when she knew…

She’d been marked for death.

Cian watched as one by one the sisters left the club, followed closely by a large Were.

He rolled his neck from side to side and waited. Last thing he wanted was to have the bear catch wind of his scent.

The women wouldn’t know he was friend and not foe. Never a good idea to startle three witches and a bear.  

He glanced at the clock wall. The club was still packed to capacity at one in the morning.

Five minutes passed before he felt it safe to follow. Scrubbing a tired hand down his face, he stood, ready to call it a night himself. First he needed to make certain that his witch made it home safely. Tomorrow he’d come up with the impossible plan to keep her safe from The Morrigan’s clutches.

He didn’t stand a chance of coming up with one, but he was working hard at being more positive.
Positive,
he snorted.
The Morrigan will roast my head over a spitfire, while Dagda chomps on my bones. How’s that for positive…

With a growl he covered himself in stealth and moved quickly through the club.

Death.

He stopped and turned.

Lise stood toe to toe behind him. She’d moved so quick she hadn’t even blurred.

Lise.

She smiled.
You should hurry.
Gray wisps of hair curled around her delicate face, giving credence to the illusion of frailty.

He frowned.

Then she was gone. Not even a trace of her remained. Cian shoved blunt fingers through his hair and refocused on his witch’s lifeline.

He wasn’t sure when he’d started thinking of the dark witch as his, but somehow it seemed right.

Then a sudden, ripping sensation of panic gnawed at his brain.
She
was in trouble. He felt it. In his heart. His soul. Her fear hammered at him.

Running wouldn’t get him to her in time. He opened the portal between the here and there with a swipe of his hand.

Immediately he was engulfed by color. The shifting lights a dizzying blur as he attuned himself to her spirit.

Fire rammed through his body, down his skull and into his hand, turning it skeletal.

Not now. Please.

He moved quicker than he’d ever dared before. He fell out the portal to his knees, landing in a putrid, brackish puddle of water.

Vertigo slammed through him. The world shifted out of focus. Dark fear, sick and twisting filled his nostrils, his head. A carnivore devouring his soul, driving out all sanity, all reason, until only a mad desperation remained.

She needed him.

Now!

That thought gave him impetus enough to stand and fight off the overwhelming sensations. What he saw made his insides clench.

Bezel was crouched before her fallen body. Her sisters were thrown aside, their bodies contorted into unnatural positions. They didn’t look broken, just unconscious. The Were was slumped half in a dumpster.

The prickle of another reaper shot down his spine. He turned to see Frenzy in shadow.

Stupid, Cian. You failed her. You should have sensed the trap.

He clenched his jaw as the dark haze of fury blanketed his mind. He ran, slamming his shoulder into Bezel’s, throwing the demon to the concrete.

Bezel hissed, his lavender eyes swirling with needles of red. The demon was mad with the taste of blood. One drop was all it took to bring out their baser instincts.

Cian stood in front of her prone body, his arms outstretched, his legs bent into a fighting stance. “Bezel,” he growled, “she’s mine.”

The demon jumped up, his normally gregarious face split into one of insanity. He licked his incisors. “Cian, move aside. I’ll kill you if I must,” his voice was hollow and gravelly.

Cian glanced at Frenzy, and that’s when he noticed the silvery thread of illusion netted across the alleyway. Frenzy had cast a chimera and incited Bezel into the fury.

“Frenzy, quit the chimera,” Cian barked at the silent figure.

Frenzy shook his head, his silver eyes sparking with amber flame. “I’m sorry, Cian. I cannot.”

His hands clenched. Normally one touch from his skeletal hand would be enough to incapacitate. But not with a demon, they were cursed to an existence of neither death nor life. His hand was useless against Bezel. Which left one option, battle the demon and fight off the illusion through pain.

“Move, Cian!” Bezel howled.

When Cian didn’t move, Bezel pounced on him. The demon was in a rage, ripping and clawing at his face.

He hissed as a talon tore through his cheek. Warm blood oozed from the wound into his mouth.

Cian grabbed Bezel around his scrawny farm boy neck and squeezed. Appearances were deceptive though, the scrawny neck was tough as steel, refusing to give way under his grip.

Bezel’s wrapped his legs around Cian’s waist, constricting like a python’s deadly squeeze.

“Wake the hell up, Bezel.” Cian repeated over and over, trying to snap the demon out of the chimera.

The demon snarled, and slammed a fist into Cian’s chest, taking the breath from his lungs. He dropped to his knees, bringing Bezel down with him. Yet still aware enough to roll them away from her.

This had to end now. It was incredibly hard to overcome a reaper, but he felt too close to it for comfort.

With one last shot of adrenaline Cian snatched Bezel’s arms and yanked them behind the demon’s back, pulling them up higher and higher.

Bezel struggled to free himself, but to no avail, he was trapped. Cian planted a knee into the demon’s lower back for leverage. Bezel howled with rage, kicking out, barely missing his jewels.

Cian hated to do this, but there would be no other way to stop the demon when he was fully entranced. With a swift upwards stroke he snapped both arms at the wrist.

“Bloody hell!” Bezel cried, bucking Cian off his back and crawling away on his forearms. Instantly the silvery net faded. The chimera destroyed by Bezel’s pain.

Dragging air into his lungs, Cian hung his head, spent. His body felt like it’d been thrown into a trash compactor. Everything hurt. But he couldn’t rest, not now. He stood on shaky legs and made his way to her. Grabbing the leather glove he’d had the foresight to stick into his pocket, he slipped it on--he couldn’t risk the chance of accidentally grazing her.

Scooping her up, he cradled her slight body to his chest. Cian trembled, but not because of her next to nothing weight. She was so soft. Her scent wrapped around his body like a gentle embrace.

Cian glanced at Frenzy.

Frenzy sighed. “You know I’ll have to come back.”

“But no more this week, Frenzy. Make this fair and give me a fighting chance.”

Frenzy didn’t move or say a word.

“Swear it,” he growled when Frenzy failed to respond.

The reaper gave a slow nod. “For the kinship we share, I give you my word. But you know the Queen is not bound to this oath. I’ll do what I can.” Then he swiped his hand, opening the portal between the here and there and stepped through, vanishing.

“Cian, you dirty bastard,” Bezel chuckled. A dark green mist sheathed the demon. The snap and crack of bones reforming sounded. “You knew how to stop me.” He shook his head. “You’re either incredibly stupid, or just plain screwed in the head.”

Cian licked the corner of his mouth, tasting the drops of pooling blood. The spreading ache of his wounds a constant throb. “Both.”

The demon snorted and hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “Mortally wounded my bindsmen. He’s in the dumpster, I’m sure praying for your services right now.”

“I’m sure.”

“Anyhow,” Bezel frowned and shoved a fist through his close cropped hair, “sorry ‘bout this. Lost my head. All that blood, then she showed up. Couldn’t stop myself.”

Cian shook his head. “She’s safe, that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah.” The demon shook his head and walked off, hands shoved deep into his pocket, appearing yet again as nothing more than a harmless frat boy on his way home from a late night binge.

Cian couldn’t contain a sigh of relief; she was safe for now, at least from Frenzy. The Morrigan could still choose to send another. He fervently hoped that Dagda could somehow get her to agree to the terms. The Fae God had sent him back to the witch, surely he had some vested interest in keeping her safe as well.

He’d bought some time and that was all that mattered.

Not enough. Not nearly enough.

***

Eve groaned.
Did I die?

Pain flared through her head like a nova about to burst.

Probably not. Hurt like hell.

All she could remember was demonic purple eyes, the taste of sulfur on her tongue and finally darkness.

She shivered, feeling cold. But this wasn’t a normal chill. This was a marrow deep, soul-sucking abyss.

Eve wanted to scream, rage, and cry all at once. Tears welled in her throat. A hollow mind-numbing void consumed her.

Sharp bursts of pain came lightning quick and stole her breath. It was like an ice pick ramming through her brain.

She hissed through her teeth. Panic and fear for her sisters hammered at her heart. Were they okay? But she couldn’t open her mouth to speak when every breath hurt so bad.

Eve whimpered, on the verge of hysterics.

“Ssh. You’re okay. Demon bespelled you. Rest. You are safe.”

The voice wrapped her in a pool of silk. Warm fingers ran gently across her forehead. The touch comforted, anchored her to the present, and away from the hellish nightmare of a stalking demon. The needle hot pain subsided, becoming a low throb.

She relaxed into the warmth, the touch. The last of the lingering ache faded away like mist over rolling waters. Finally able to take a breath without the flare of pain dulling her senses, Eve opened her eyes.

Frost blue and gold eyes collided, along with a wicked sense of déjà vu. But she wasn’t given much time to think about that odd prickle.

Instead she was sucking in a breath when the reality of who held her finally seeped through her sluggish mind. His gaze was a soft caress that seemed filled with hunger. The kind that promised danger and lust and dark nights.

A hot shiver ran down her spine and filled her with liquid heat. The quick glimpse of him at the bar had not done the man justice. Not a blemish to mar the sculpted beauty of his face. He seemed made of marble, every feature chiseled and clearly defined.

For a split second she wondered whether the body under the clothes was just as carved, and a warm curl of desire tied her gut in knots. His breath tickling her neck made her aware of other things. Like the rise and fall of his chest. Her arms wrapped around his thick neck. She was filled with a sudden desire to run her fingers through his hair and see if it felt as silky as it looked.

The stranger gently sat her down. But she didn’t back up or move away. For some reason the thought of putting distance between them didn’t cross her mind.

“Are you okay?” he asked, grazing a finger down the side of her neck.

Goosebumps trailed a fiery path down her flesh. She winced when his fingers ran over two hard bumps. “What is that?” she asked, a bit breathless and dizzy.

“Demon’s kiss. Befuddles the mind. Makes it easier to dominate.”

“Eve,” Tamryn’s sharp voice broke her trance. Eve jumped and turned, nearly bowling her sister over in the process.

“What?” she snapped with embarrassment.

Tamryn narrowed violet eyes, her gaze sharp and assessing. Celeste crept up behind Tamryn, groaning as she rubbed her left temple.

Both sisters were scratched and banged up. Tamryn wore a nasty gash over one eye, while Celeste had a long vertical cut up one cheek. Otherwise, they looked to have fared the fight in one piece.

“You okay?” both sisters asked at once.

She nodded, knowing by the glint in their eyes that she’d been projecting again.

 For once can I just lust in private?

Celeste gave her a small smile, then turned her attention to the stranger with a raised brow.

“Oh.” Eve turned toward the man, blue eyes threatening to hold her captive again. “This is...”

“Cian,” he said, his gaze never leaving her face.

Her cheeks burned. The man was intense. Oh, but who cared. He was totally hot.

Lame, Eve. So lame.

“Cian,” she repeated slowly, tasting the vowels.

Harry grunted in the background as he fell out of the dumpster to the unyielding pavement below.

Tamryn rushed to the Were’s side.

Celeste, the most curious of the three held out her hand in welcome first. “Well, thanks for the rescue. That Demon went totally ape. No way we could have handled that without your timely rescue.”

Cian nodded. “Glad I was around to help.” He bit his bottom lip and glanced back at Eve.

She wanted to squirm under his hot gaze. Carnal thoughts knocked at her door.