Demon’s Embrace(7)

“Easy,” Alex said with another laugh, “pixies look like seven-year-olds selling cookies. Other paranormals don’t.”

“What the hell?” Ronan was seriously wondering why he’d answered the phone this morning, but a quick glance at Kali still sleeping on the sofa brought things back into sharp focus.

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” Alex said as he headed outside. “You should be safe here. And, just so you know, there aren’t any seven-year-olds in this area of the world. You see one, shoot first. Don’t hesitate.”

“Okay,” Ronan said with a decisive nod.

He watched through the window as Alex walked about a hundred yards from the house and then seemed somehow to step into an invisible doorway. Rubbing his eyes, Ronan turned back to find Kali awake and staring at him as if he’d grown a second head. Hell, considering the type of day he’d had so far, it was likely to be true.

“What the fuck did you do to me?” she growled as she tried to leap off the sofa and confront him. The only problem was she swooned instead and landed in his arms. He gathered her close, took a seat on the sofa, and waited for her to regain her equilibrium. “Put me down.”

“Not until I’m sure you’re all right.”

“How can I be all right? One minute I’m standing in my kitchen, and then the next thing I know I’m lying on a strange sofa. Where the hell are we?” She rubbed her eyes tiredly. “And what the fuck did you give me? I feel like shit.” She cuddled against him even though he was fairly certain she really didn’t mean to. “It’s not nice to drug an ex. That sort of stalker shit can get you into big trouble. And besides, I’d already agreed to go with you anyway, so why would you knock me out?” Her voice gave away how tired she was, but the ornery woman lifted her head and glanced around the room, her gaze eventually settling on the big glass windows that overlooked a massive tree-filled valley. “And, hey, where the hell are we?”

“You asked that already,” Ronan said with a smile as he eased her head back against his chest. It felt too good to hold her, especially at the moment when she seemed disinclined to fight him on it.

“And yet I still don’t have an answer,” she said in a grumpy voice, even though she slumped against him even more.

“We’re at Alex’s place.”

“How long was I out?”

He considered lying and letting her think that they’d drugged her, but in light of what they seemed to be facing, it was probably dangerous to keep her in the dark. “You were only unconscious for a few minutes.”

“So we’re not far from my home then?”

“In a manner of speaking,” he said carefully. Now that he’d made the decision he really didn’t know how to go about explaining it. The words “Hey, doll, did you know the world is full of paranormal creatures?” probably wouldn’t help.

“Where’s Alex?” she asked with such affection in her voice that she managed to piss him off once more. Hell, jealous much?

“He’s gone to speak to some of his contacts. He should be back soon.”

“Oh, okay,” she said as she shuffled slightly in his lap. He managed to bite back the groan as she dragged her beautiful ass against his hard cock, but she noticed the hard rod anyway. She looked like she was about to give him a few choice words, but then something caught her attention, and she looked over at the window.

“Where did that kid come from?”

Terror filled him as Ronan followed her gaze and saw exactly what she was looking at. Fuck, Alex hadn’t been kidding when he’d said pixies looked like seven-year-olds selling cookies. Before he could react, Alex came into sight, almost like he stepped around a corner without there actually having been a corner to step around. He immediately blasted the pixie with what looked a lot like a flamethrower but without the hardware, rushed past the burning body as it crumbled into dust, and came into the room.

“Time to go,” he said as he twisted the dial on the wall panel, placed his hands on them both, and then made the world spin out of control once more.





Chapter Three


“Don’t,” Kali said, swallowing hard, “ever, ever do that again.”

“Cell phone, Kali? Where is it?”

“Jacket pocket,” she managed to force past her chattering teeth. It felt like someone had put her in a paint shaker. Her head pounded, her stomach threatened revolt, and every ounce of energy she’d owned had completely fled. Even her eyes refused to focus. Kali registered her phone being taken from her jacket. The smell of melting plastic and hot metal a moment later was confusing, but she couldn’t really identify its source.