New Orleans Police Department? Since when? And when did a cop go out on the streets with men who were armed with bats and broken bottles?
The stranger’s head lifted. His eyes weren’t so dark now. They were starting to flame. “Freezing isn’t something I’ve ever been able to do,” he said. “But burning . . . that’s a whole different matter.”
“What the hell?” came the stunned question from Douglas. The redhead was shaking. Yeah, probably realizing that broken whiskey bottle wasn’t going to do him much good. “He’s a para!” Wait, what? Was that the new lingo for a paranormal?
Douglas had always been a lingo guy. He thought it made him seem cool.
He didn’t exactly look cool then. Sabine pushed toward them.
Douglas was shaking harder by the second. Maybe because the stranger’s eyes were burning brighter by the second.
“Run,” Sabine whispered.
No one moved.
“Run!” she yelled. Sabine shoved Douglas. But the guy just shook his head and stood his ground.
“No one’s hurting my sister,” Rhett said. The leader of the pack. Always. His bat had a long crack in it. His fingers tightened around the base. “So you come at me again if you want. I don’t care what the hell you are. No one hurts my sister and walks away.”
The man’s eyes were glowing bright. “I’m not the one you have to punish. Save that for her vampire.”
How did he know about Ryder?
“He’s coming,” the man said, a faint smile curling his mouth. “Coming in so fast. He won’t give her up. What will you do then? Kill him?”
Her breath had stilled in her chest. The guy was wrong. Had to be. She’d ditched Ryder.
But Ryder knew she was from New Orleans. She glanced over her shoulder. Didn’t see anything but the end of the alley and the crowd filling the main street.
“Maybe you’ll come to wish that she was dead.” Those words had her head snapping back toward the stranger. “Before it’s all over.”
“And maybe you’ll wish that you’d never set foot in our town.” This growl erupted from Vaughn. His handsome face was tight with fury.
“I’m the least of your worries.” The man’s burning gaze touched on Sabine. “But I will see you again.”
“Not if you want to keep those eyes in your head, you won’t,” Rhett blasted.
The stranger just smirked. Then he said, “You should duck now.”
What?
He lifted his hand and a ball of fire rushed in the air, heading right toward them.
Vaughn pulled the trigger on his gun.
Rhett’s fingers locked around Sabine.
They all ducked.
And as the fire blazed, the stranger with the burning eyes slipped away, leaving behind a trail of smoke and drops of blood on the ground.
No one spoke. No one tried to go after the guy. They waited until the flames started to die away, then Rhett demanded, “Who the hell was that?”
Sabine could only shake her head. They were all rising, all looking around carefully. A crowd of spectators had come their way, drawn, no doubt, by the smell of smoke and the crackle of flames.
“I don’t know who he was.” The crowd was closing in. Sabine backed away from them, and her shoulder brushed against Rhett’s chest. “Let’s get out of here.”
He nodded, but then, he stopped and pulled her against him. Held her in a crushing grip that threatened to break her ribs. She felt his lips brush against the side of her head. “I thought you were dead.”
I was. But she couldn’t tell him that. No, maybe she just didn’t want to tell him. So she held him, gripping him just as tightly as she inhaled his familiar scent.
Her eyes had squeezed closed and she forced herself to open her gaze. When her lashes lifted, her stare darted over the growing crowd.
And her eyes locked on a gleaming, green gaze. Ryder.
He wasn’t pushing forward like the others. Wasn’t offering to help. Wasn’t moving at all. He stood there, watching her and Rhett. There was so much fury in his eyes.
“Let’s go,” Sabine whispered again. Rhett’s body felt strong and alive against her. She wasn’t about to do anything to risk that life.
Vaughn had hidden his gun. Probably tucked it under his shirt. The others had dropped their weapons and were trying to look harmless. They managed to ease their way through the crowd—and away from Ryder—even as a fire truck’s siren blared in the distance.
Rhett kept a tight hold on her as they rushed down the street. She glanced back, and, sure enough, Ryder was following her. Slow, stalking steps. She shook her head. Stay away. Sabine mouthed the words.
He kept coming.