There was a hint of the girl he remembered. “They glow because at first it helped with the intimidation thing, and now it’s just habit. I can stop if you want.” He held his breath as he waited to see how she was going to respond.
She gave him a sidelong glance. “It must really suck the intimidation didn’t work on me.”
He laughed quietly. “It’s interesting, but since you’re a demon hunter, I guess it makes sense why you wouldn’t be scared of the glowing eyes.”
It was her turn to laugh. “I don’t hunt demons. I avoid them at all costs.”
“All right,” he said in the most agreeable tone he could manage. “You have the ability to kill them, but you don’t hunt them.”
Her head bobbed, and then panic hit her face. “Oh, damn it, Wraith, you can’t be near me if things get all freaky, okay? I can control it now, mostly, but if I’m really scared or about to die, I can’t always control the blast. I don’t know what it would do to you. It does whatever it does to the undead easily enough, and I don’t know what to classify you as.”
He nodded once. “Thank you for telling me. I can block the pulse when needed.” He simply had to pulse himself, which would protect him and anyone close to him from another’s pulse of energy.
She blinked a few times, and then she looked at him, her mouth going crooked. “I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse.”
He had the irresistible need to touch her and couldn’t stop from reaching up and brushing the back of his knuckles down the side of her face.
She flinched back. “Don’t. If we do have sex, that’s all it’s gonna be, okay? I don’t need to develop any kind of feelings for another dead guy.”
Vincent snatched his hand back. Where his skin touched hers had a warm buzz that was spreading out and making him tingle in a weird, but not unpleasant, way. Shit. He was in so much fucking trouble it wasn’t even funny. He hadn’t been with her twenty-four hours, and she was already getting to him. He went to push his hood back when a sharp pain pricked behind his ears. His body went rigid, and every extra sense he had was pushed out. He started a low string of curses. “We need to—”
“—run,” she finished for him as she pushed open the car door just as a large snarling undead beast landed on the roof of the car.
Vincent grabbed the backpack and hooked an arm around Bryna simultaneously. He jerked back, throwing all his weight against the passenger-side door. The door pushed out under the assault of his supernatural force. He rolled out with his body caged around Bryna. Amazing how she so easily became the sacred protected possession in the face of a howler pack. Bloody goddamn it. Vampire hounds. They were in the gnarled shape of a man and wolf combined. Fur-covered skin stretched too thin over bones. Giant fangs dripped with saliva. Claws like razors curled over their hands, and they were staring right at Bryna. How the hell had they tracked them all the way out here? Didn’t matter. One lunged. Bryna’s scream rang out as the snarl of fangs, claws, and poison launched off the top of the car and landed directly in front of Vincent.
“We want the girl,” it rasped out.
Vincent handed the backpack to Bryna as he rolled to his feet and stood to his full terrifying height. He pushed back his hood as he drew the deadly bastard sword at his side.
“The Wraith,” he snarled out.
His name chorused in a whisper of snarls as the hideous pack of creatures assembled around them.
Bryna turned around in a small circle. She made a small whimpering sound. “Wraith, I can’t kill all of them.”
“It’s okay, sunshine,” he murmured softly. “Just stay behind me.”
“But they’re behind you.”
His arm hooked around her and pinned her to his back. The pack was closing in on them.
“Hop up,” Wraith murmured.
*
Some otherworld instinct took over, and she hopped up onto his back, curling her arms around him and hooking her legs around his waist. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and held on for the crazy ride. His muscles moved under her body as he attacked. She heard the squeals and shrieks of pain as one howler after another fell under Wraith’s blade.
He was knocked backward.
“Let go!” he bellowed.
And she did just as they hit the ground. She skidded across mud and rock before she rolled into a tree. Pain shot through every limb. The howler was hunched over Wraith. He wrestled with the thing. Poison-tipped claws sank into his skin. He roared with the pain of it.
Bryna dragged herself along the ground. As far as her extra senses could tell, this was the last one. Her leg hurt, and she was sure stars were a new part of her vision, but if she aimed for the howler in the middle, she knew at least she wouldn’t get Wraith killed too. When she was close enough, she grabbed her injured leg and pulled it in front of her so that she was able to sit up and reach the howler. Her hands wrapped around the filthy, furry hind leg, and she closed her eyes. She projected every ounce of fear she felt into her hands and then out.
The shock waves rattled through the monster. It let out an anguished screech and then puffed into a cloud of bony dust. She pulled her shirt up over her face to keep from breathing it in as she dragged herself up toward Wraith’s face. “Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead,” she repeated over and over again.
She smiled when he groaned. Then he forced his massive body up into a seated position. He shook his head a few times with a hand covering his face while he massaged at his temples. “You’re hurt,” he said between gritted teeth.
“Yeah. You’re poisoned,” her tone worried as her smile fell. Great. Just what she needed to do. Send Vincent’s friend from the other side back to limbo. For as long as she could remember her fear turned into a pulse of energy she could use as a weapon. Her father had helped her learn how to control it before his death, but after Vincent’s death, she no longer trusted in that ability. It was used only as a last resort in a fight, or more likely when her body decided it wasn’t a good time to die. Thankfully her fear had allowed her to use it destroy the howler, but it might be too late. She didn’t know what howler venom did to someone like Wraith.
“I’ll live,” he rasped out with a chuckle. “I’m dead. The poison is a bitch and hurts like hell, but it can’t kill me.”
She glared in reaction to his humor. “That’s not funny.”
“Probably not,” he agreed and then looked at her without the benefit of his hood to cover his face.
Now she was seeing things. Her head was pounding, and she was pretty sure she’d broken something in her leg. Her mind was putting Vincent’s face on this man’s body. “I need a doctor,” she whispered.
“Give me a second,” he said between clenched teeth and then let out a howl of pain.
She whimpered at the sound. She’d heard it before, but again, she was sure it was a rattled brain playing tricks on her. “Stop. What are you doing?”
“Getting the poison out. I can’t heal you if I’m a mess.”
Bryna whimpered as pain stabbed through her leg, reminding her she’d broken it. She hated being in pain. She always felt like such a baby because she always cried. Her vision blurred and her head pounded. She slumped against the ground. “Vincent. I need you.”
*
Vincent stilled. He closed his eyes and forced his body to process the injuries and poison at a more rapid pace. When he was able to function at full capacity again, he was next to Bryna in a second.
“Shh, sunshine, I’m right here. Come on, let’s get you all fixed up.” The perk of being a defender of the universe was having awesome cosmic powers which included the ability to heal pretty women who’d already suffered enough pain. As gently as he could, he picked her up and carried her over to a mossy spot and leaned her up against a hollowed log.
“I hurt, Vincent,” she whispered. Tears leaked from her eyes. “I’m sorry I killed you.”
His head came up from examining her leg. Oh damn. Bad head wound. He was pretty sure she was talking to his younger self and not the man crouched down in front of her. “It’s all right, baby. Let’s get you fixed up, and then we can talk about it.”
She sniffled and wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Okay. When did you get the ability to heal?”
“Don’t you worry about that. Just sit still for me. I’ll make sure you’re okay.” She was going to kill him, he was sure of it. He laughed, a twisted sound. She’d already done that, but this time, he wasn’t sure he was going to survive it. He worked as quickly as he could to mend the fracture in her leg, and worked his way over her body to make sure he didn’t miss anything before he got to the concussion. It wasn’t as bad as he’d feared, but it was enough to leave her shaken and confused.
He scooped her up into his arms, and she promptly curled against him, tucking her head up under his chin. She let out a quiet sigh. “I know you’re Wraith, but just let me pretend for a few minutes, please?”
“Sure,” he whispered as he blinked dampness out of his eyes. Her body relaxed, and he let out a sigh of his own. He went around the battleground as he held her and managed to collect what they needed. Her pack. His sword. And then he headed back to the car. It might not work, but at least it was shelter from the gathering storm while he let the concussion heal as naturally as possible. It was a bad idea to mess with something like her brain if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.