Heat laced through her mind, instantly soothing her fear. She found the willpower to tip her phone. The barrel in her back faltered as the reflection in the screen caught the threatening glint of a familiar blade pressed against Rich’s throat.
“I dare you to try.”
17
The temperature dropped with that growled warning. Goosebumps slithered across her skin and a tremor quaked her to the core. The familiar breeze that coasted through the walkways of the apartment complex died along with the suffocating humidity, the traffic noise from the streets and parking lots muted. She felt like she was in a bubble, the fast-flowing blood in her veins creating a whooshing sound in her ears that muffled everything. Time may have stood still for all she knew, because for the longest moment, it felt like the world stopped.
Everything…stopped.
The barrel retreated from her back. Slowly, with a painful swallow, she finally turned around, pressing her back to the door.
Her eyes were instantly drawn to the ice blues that held her with a steady, lethal gaze. They glowed fiercely, the only hint to his emotions obscured behind flickering hues of azure and silver. It was the first time she’d ever seen silver in his eyes, a silver that glinted in time with his blade. A reflection of his weapon. His face was a mask of pure beautiful ice, nota single hint to his thoughts etched into his perfect skin, but the lack of expression reinforced the threat in his warning.
Faint webs of blue skittered down his blade.
“Go inside?—”
Rich swung his elbow back into Thaddeus’s ribs. Thaddeus shuffled back without a crack in his expression, but Rori swore she felt an echo of pain in her own ribs. Rich swung around, whipping his gun upward.
“Stop!” Rori shrieked, lunging toward Rich as Thaddeus leaned back, out of reach of the attack. A ghostly grin teased Thaddeus’s lips.
Rich cut his arm down, the butt of the gun cracking into Rori’s cheek, spinning her around as she gaped in shock.
The world went gray, stars flashing in front of her. Excruciating pain ripped up and down her head. She gasped, the coppery taste of blood trickling across her tongue. She staggered, somehow staying on her feet as the corridor around her tilted but started to come back into focus.
Numbness suddenly pushed the pain aside.
“The Devil don’t scare me. What makes you think you do?” Rich taunted.
Rori blinked until the gray faded. Half a dozen feet in front of her, Rich held the gun steadily pointing at Thaddeus’s forehead, Thaddeus with the tip of his dagger beneath Rich’s chin. A potential stalemate, if both were human. Thaddeus had placed his body between her and Rich, a shield. His fingers casually readjusted against the pearly hilt of his dagger, those webs of blue magic pulsing with feral life, waiting for their master to give his command.
Did Rich notice the magic-imbued blade? Or was the power of Thaddeus’s weapon glamoured?
“Pretty boys like you are fucking pussies in the face of death.”
Rori’s gaze dropped to Thaddeus’s slowly twisting fingers by his side. Dark tendrils of smoky magic licked at his skin, curling, coiling, weaving between his fingers. Thickening as they crept up his hand, his wrist.
Rich laughed, another crazed sound as his eyes flashed like a madman. “Come on, pretty boy. What’s your fucking business with my woman? Crossed a line, you did, and you’ll eat steel for it.”
She grabbed his forearm when she realized exactly what his intentions were with his magic. Desperation cinched her chest as he cast her a side-glance without taking his full attention from Rich.
“Don’t do it,” she pleaded quietly. “Not for me.”
Rich snickered, a cruel, evil sound.
The distinct bang of the gun deafened her.
Or was it her scream?
In a fraction of a second, she was in her bedroom with no recollection of getting there, except for the lingering scent of Thaddeus and an uncharacteristic blast of air. She spun around, searching for him, desperate to know he was okay. The side of her face remained numb, allowing her mind enough clarity to draw conclusions about what the outcome of this standoff would be.
Thaddeus was ruthless. He was lethal. He took no prisoners.
She’d learned that last night.
And if she dared to gamble, if it came to her safety, anyone who threatened her would end up as all those evil Fae had.
Dead.
