His voice sent chills down her spine. It rumbled with each word as if he spoke from the bottom of a pit. The tone of his command terrified her. This wasn’t a guy anyone sane would argue with.
She turned her head in time to see the guy she’d bashed with the rock instantly backing up about ten feet. Blood coated the side of Craig’s face, running down his neck and chest from the injuries he’d suffered. He lowered his head in submission and his body followed when he dropped to his knees.
“Of course.”
Dusti turned her focus back on the very tall man who wore a strange hooded black duster that was open in front. It had short sleeves, revealing muscular biceps. She raked her gaze up and down him. He wore black leather pants with silver bands over muscular thighs. His heavy-duty boots reminded her of military-issue ones. Leather encased his skin from wrist to just under the elbow, with more silver strips attached to the armguards, each sporting small, sharp-looking spikes. If she wasn’t mistaken, they were a form of weapon that looked as if they could do serious damage if he struck someone.
She finally met his compelling bright blue gaze again.
“Who are you?” His voice sent chills down her spine again but his tone had softened just slightly.
“I…” She swallowed the lump in her throat; perhaps her heart, still there from all the fear. She wasn’t sure what to say. “Who are you?”
“You’re in my territory without permission.” His nostrils flared when he inhaled, took in her scent, and generous lips curved downward. “Your scent confuses me. You smell male but you obviously are not. Is that your blood?” He glanced down her body.
“Blame him.” She hooked a thumb in her kidnapper’s direction. “I’m only here because he forced me to be. I’m just trying to get home.”
“I smell him even from this distance. That’s not his blood on you.” He crouched suddenly, his attention straying to her leg, and he inhaled again.
She watched his eyes change color. It made her gasp when the blue suddenly flashed sparks of silver. It looked like little lightning bolts were exploding inside his irises. He sniffed again and suddenly gripped her leg, his hand moving too fast for her to follow. He inhaled deeply.
He didn’t look away from her. “Human.” His expression became grim when he rose to his full height. He finally looked away from her to make his obviously unhappy discovery known to her kidnapper. “You attacked and brought one of them into my territory to kill? Do you want us blamed for her death?” Rage dripped from every word he spoke. “We don’t sanction hunting them on our lands. You offend me.”
“No!” Her kidnapper raised his terrified gaze to the stranger. “I was under orders from Decker to bring her to you, Lord Aveoth.”
I’m in such deep shit, Dusti thought. She gawked at the warrior before her. Using that term described how he appeared in the getup he wore and the danger that seemed to radiate off him in waves of anger.
I’m so screwed. This is Aveoth, the one everyone is so afraid of. I so get why now. He looks meaner than hell.
“To me?” Aveoth actually appeared confused for a split second before his face hardened to an unreadable mask again. “Why would he gift me with a human?”
“She’s his granddaughter.”
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His masculine features slackened in astonishment to reveal his emotions once more before his gaze shifted to pin her where she stood. “Is that true?”
Fear rendered her speechless. Aveoth made a rumbling sound from deep in his throat. It reminded her of something she’d once heard watching a documentary about volcanoes. He, like those volcanoes, made that noise right before he seemed to explode. The raw fury on his handsome face made her back up a step on legs that threatened to turn to rubber.
“Is it true?” he roared.
Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She locked her knees together to remain on her feet. Falling on her ass in front of the scary GarLycan didn’t seem a smart thing to do. His coloring started to slightly change. He turned from a deep copper tone to more of a gray shade.
“It’s true! Her name is Batina and she is the eldest child of Decker’s daughter,” the jerk on his knees supplied. “He planned to offer her to you as a lover. She carries his dead mate’s bloodline.”
Aveoth’s skin had definitely transformed into a slate gray in color. His flesh lost some of its human facade to harden and smooth out. Dusti had a sinking fear his Gargoyle traits were showing.
“She smells human.”
“Her father was one of them. Her mother was pure VampLycan, as you know.”