Page 52 of Storm


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Partially loosened from his grasp, Jessie lunged toward her bedside table. Her fingers closed around the handle of the fixed blade.

Still transforming, Braden’s focus was on the window, and he yanked hard on her arm to get her to it. Jessie brought the knife to her mouth and hooked her teeth into the leather sheath to free it.

The fight downstairs had moved from the kitchen. A tremendous smashing and the cracking of wood indicated their presence at the bottom of the stairs.

Braden’s next yank had her completely airborne. Her feet touched down near the window. He put his fist straight through it. Oblivious to the jagged fragments, he pulled back and smacked at them, breaking a hole big enough to get through.

Jessie put everything she had into the forward momentum of her knife arm. She buried the blade deep in the still writhing muscles of the arm that held her.

For the first time, a grunt of pain. He spun toward her, threatening with black lips peeled back from long jaws.

She yanked the blade out again and slashed it across his face.

He flinched, loosening for a fraction of a second. She pulled hard, and his claws ripped through her loose shirt as she tore herself free.

The tumult from the stairs had fallen silent. Jessie bolted for the door. From behind her came the scrabbling of claws and a tinkle of glass falling to the ground below.

She skidded to a stop and spun.

The curtains swirled in the breeze from the shattered window. A smear of fresh blood marked the frame.

But of Braden, there was no sign.

12

Jessie stared at the broken window. Braden was gone? She struggled with the same sense of loss she’d experienced at the storage facility.

She was one hell of a messed-up lady. Her emotions were a complete jumble. From behind her, wood shifted and creaked.

Something was coming up the stairs.

Still clutching the bloodied knife, Jessie retreated across the bedroom. Keeping an eye on the window, she scanned the rug alongside the bed. Where the hell was that can of bear spray? There! Protruding from under the edge of the duvet...

She’d just straightened from snapping off the safety when a form darkened the doorway.

Her estimation of the wordmonsterelevated a notch. Or two. No bloody wonder Braden had bolted. It was similar in shape to Braden’s beast, but taller. And broader. It had to both duck and twist sideways to slip through the opening.

Whereas Braden had lupine characteristics, her first impression of this—from its broad head and wide-set eyes to its twitching tail—was that it was feline. It walked on all fours, and the muscular forequarters were higher than the hind. The forearms and thighs were huge and ropes of muscle rippled beneath the hair.

It pushed through the splintered door. Rather than dense black hair, this thing had dark blond fur marked with black. A tufted black and gold mane framed its broad head. The features were more massive than Braden’s. More like a lion than a wolf.

The fur was matted with blood. Lots of blood.

For a moment, it stared at her with its eerie gold eyes. Then the broad, maned head swung toward the window, and the long jaw opened. The upper canines had to be six inches long, and they looked razor sharp.

A deep growl rumbled through the room. It seemed to travel through the floor, up through her feet, and into her body. She vibrated with it as the head came back her way. The eyes glowed just as gold as Braden’s, but the pupils were slitted like a cat’s.

It took a step toward her.

Jessie raised the bear spray and shot it straight in the face.

She blinked and choked on the vile mist, but the beast only raised a huge clawed hand to wipe its eyes.

The jaw lined with razor-sharp teeth opened.

“Krrisk and shatza,” it complained. At least, it sounded like a complaint, the words made no sense to her, but its voice rumbled like rocks rolling from a mountaintop.

Jessie dropped the can and leaped, brandishing the knife. The beast caught her arm in mid slash, the thick fingers wrapping around her wrist. It rose on powerful hind legs, lifting her straight in the air.