Kendra Leigh Castle - Renegade Angel

What if it needed her?

That was the sweet spot, right there. The one she couldn’t resist indulging.

“Oh, honestly,” she muttered. “Fine. Let’s be stupid.”

She got out of bed and padded to the window, the moonlight painting dappled images on her bare skin. It was probably idiocy, but she was never going to feel right about it if she just let the poor crow sit there. And anyway, she had few enough friends. That was one of the overarching themes of her life: alone. Who was she to shun a fellow creature based solely on species?

Her fingers had just flipped the latches when there was a flurry of motion behind her, a rapid scuttling noise, clickity-clickity-click, like a small animal scurrying across her floor. The window slammed up of its own accord just as the claws sank into her shoulders.

Ember had only a vague impression of something huge and black exploding into her room from the night, just before she was hurled across the room as though she weighed no more than a doll. For a moment, she was weightless. Then, in a lightning-quick burst of instinct that came out of nowhere, she tucked herself into a ball, rolling rather than slamming into the floor or wall and ending quickly in a defensive crouch on the far side of her bed.

There was a split second of recognition that, under other circumstances, she would have thought her move had been pretty damn cool. Then she heard an inhuman, outraged shriek, and something deep inside her roared in response. A sudden wave of bloodlust crashed through her like a tidal wave. All her carefully constructed barriers crumbled in an instant, and the daylight creature she fought to be evaporated in the face of the night creature she truly was.

There was a crash, the sound of shattering glass. And a fierce growl that stirred Ember in ways that had nothing to do with violence. So familiar … she had to see, to know. In a single, nimble leap, Ember cleared the bed and immediately found herself confronted with a sight straight out of a horror movie.

The two creatures grappled by the window, reduced to shadows where they fought, backlit by the moon. One of them, the one she knew immediately had drawn the blood that had already dried on her shoulders, was truly the most hideous thing she’d ever seen. Its skin was a deep and angry red even in the darkness, and its squat and muscular body strained as blood poured from a gash across its head. And that head … stubby, curved horns protruded from the forehead, and its snout pulled back to reveal a maw full of dagger-sharp teeth.

As Ember watched, the creature drew back its arm and slashed its claws across the cheek of its opponent, earning, amazingly, no more than a pained grunt for its trouble.

“You’ll pay for that, you nefari piece of shit,” snarled a voice that she recognized the second she heard it. She would know that voice anywhere. The wings, however, sprouting from his back with a kind of strange majesty, took her utterly aback.

Just like in my dreams.

His blazing eyes, a hot and angry green, connected with hers for only a split second, sending a jolt through her that seemed to set every nerve ending she had aflame at once. Stripped of her inhibitions, Ember let the connection between them ripple through her, the siren song of pleasure promised far greater for her than the interest in the fight.

Sensing it, the horned creature’s attention moved completely to her. It quickly forgot Raum in favor of its initial prey and shoved away from him to stalk toward her, gleaming red eyes full of blind hatred and a terrible hunger.

This time, the warning growl that filled the air was Ember’s. Her body felt loose, agile, and she realized that all her fear had evaporated. It had been replaced by a sort of breathless anticipation. That, and a complete confidence that when she and this creature went for one another’s throats, she would win. Which was good, because Raum’s presence had her blood singing. If she had to tear through this thing to get to him, so be it.

Ember growled louder, her claws extended, her long and deadly incisors bared.

Come and get me, you son of a bitch.

It leaped, and Ember propelled herself into the air, ready to clash, to meet it in a biting, tearing frenzy. All of her passion, her pent-up energy, sizzled through her veins in anticipation. She would make her kill. She would teach this thing a lesson.

And then it was gone, stolen from her out of midair as Raum swooped out of nowhere and slammed it against the wall. Ember had the wind knocked out of her in one harsh breath, one swift blow to her gut sending her hurtling back to the floor. There was an almost piglike squeal, followed quickly by an ear-piercing shriek of pain so intense her ears throbbed with it.

Then, silence, except for the blood still rushing in her ears. Ember gasped as her lungs shuddered back to life, dragging herself to a sitting position while she grappled with a barrage of coughing. Her eyes darted around the room as she tried to brace herself for another attack.

Raum rose to his feet on the other side of the room, over the crumpled form of the creature that had attacked her. Without even glancing at her, he pulled a small pouch from his pocket and sprinkled something over the body, murmuring words she could barely hear. She began to make her way over to him, slowly, deliberately, maintaining her crouch and silent as a ghost. She’d take him down first and ask questions after, she decided, trying to keep in mind that he’d come tearing into her house uninvited and ready to fight.

But it was the prospect of having him pinned beneath her as she straddled him that moved her forward, silent as a cat in the dark. The body of the dead creature began to smoke, then vanished in a burst of orange flame. Ember’s mouth fell open, her eyes rounding in disbelief as she stopped short.

This had to be more of her nightmare. Had to be. Except it all felt terribly real. She shuddered in a breath, pinched herself with claws that drew blood with sharp little pinpricks of pain and made her hiss. But it couldn’t be real, Ember thought. Because if it was …

“Raum?”

Raum turned to stare at her with green eyes that glowed brightly in the dark. All at once his scent flooded her nostrils, an exotic musk that reminded her of candles and incense. The scent of dark places, of mysteries undiscoverable. She could hear him now, his slow, steady breathing, the thudding rhythm of his heart soothing the erratic beat of her own. Ember started to get to her feet, then staggered as an unexpected wave of dizziness knocked her off balance.

Immediately, his arms were around her, pressing her into a chest that felt like hot stone. Ember shivered from the warmth, leaning into his heat even as she fought off the escalating light-headedness.

“Don’t,” she protested weakly, knowing full well that she was already an active participant in this little embrace. She was going to get herself killed. He could be getting ready to shred her even now. All her stupid instincts demanded she get as close to him as humanly possible. Her head was so foggy all of a sudden … Why couldn’t she think?

“I’m not going to hurt you, Ember,” Raum said, making no move to let her go. “You have plenty to worry about, but not that.”

His voice was stern, but somehow that was a comfort. Especially because she was suddenly having a hard time keeping her feet under her.

“Raum,” she murmured, her speech going slurry. “I feel kinda funny.”

In response, he ran his hands over her shoulders, and Ember was surprised at the dull and throbbing pain at his touch.

“Ow,” she complained, jerking her shoulders so that his hands returned to her back.

“Your wounds are deep,” he said, and the anger in his voice made her shiver again.