The Warrior Vampire(25)

His mate was indeed extraordinary. “You hunt alone?” The thought of her chasing demons night after night without backup sent Ronan’s protective streak into overdrive.

She rolled her eyes. “I do lots of things alone, vampire. Why? Worried?”

Yes. “How big are these mapinguari?” If they were the size of a house cat or a puppy, he could rest easy.

“Depends on the type of magic that’s been taken,” Naya responded with a shrug. “Sometimes no bigger than me, though once I fought a fully manifested demon that was pushing seven and a half feet.”

Gods. Ronan’s stomach tied into an unyielding knot. “And your elders, they expect you to do this? To hunt these demons and extinguish them on your own?”

“All by my lonesome.” Her flippant attitude did nothing for Ronan’s ratcheting nerves. “I managed to take a big, burly vampire captive last night with no one’s help.”

Ronan clamped his jaw down. She had, hadn’t she? And damn it, she could have been killed. He had no recollection of last night, had no idea what sort of state he’d been in. Had he been in a state of bloodlust, he would have drunk her dry before his soul had even had a chance to return to his body. “You won’t be going out alone tonight,” he replied. “I’m going with you.”





CHAPTER

7

“You can say you’re going out with me until you’re blue in the face, vampire. It’s not going to happen.”

“I am going with you and there’s not a gods-damned thing you can do about it.”

Naya sheathed the dagger at her back and tucked another into her boot. She bit down on her bottom lip to keep from letting slip the string of curses that she wanted to rain down on the very stubborn vampire blocking a path to her door, arms folded across his wide chest.

“It’s not a good idea.” She had no idea what she’d be tracking tonight. It could be someone in the early stages of corruption, or it could be a creature from a nightmare, hell-bent on mayhem. Plus, there was the issue of Ronan’s own volatile state to consider. The magic hadn’t manifested since she’d found him in the parking lot last night, but it could resurface at any time. Until she figured out what it was that had attached itself to him, he was a variable she couldn’t be distracted by.

That was the only reason she wanted him to stay behind. It had nothing to do with the fact that she felt oddly drawn to him. That the music in her soul soared in a beautiful symphony whenever he was near. Or that the memory of his kisses still burned on her lips, seared every inch of skin that he’d touched.

And she absolutely didn’t want him to stay behind because if he tried to sink his fangs into her throat again she didn’t think she’d stop him no matter her claims otherwise.

Gods, what was wrong with her?

“Don’t touch that.” Naya snatched a ceremonial dagger used specifically for spellcrafting from Ronan’s hand and set it back on the shelf. Her fingers brushed his and a current passed between them that sent delicious chills over Naya’s flesh. His eyes flashed with silver and Naya wondered at his response. Emotional? Physical? Both? She swallowed down the lust that churned hot in her belly. She needed to get her head on straight and focus. No male had ever thrown her off her game to this extent.

The vampire was trouble.

“I’m not letting you go out there, unprotected.”

Naya paused, the air essentially knocked from her chest with his words. She checked the clip of her SIG and stuffed the gun into a holster under her arm. Suffused with pleasant warmth that radiated from her belly outward, she tried to shut out the sound of the music that lulled her into a subdued state of peace and security. It was wrong. All of it. The music, the way it shifted from pitch-perfect to chaotic, the rightness that she felt just being close to Ronan. The way she trusted him without knowing anything about him.

He was a dangerous male who radiated power. A dark aura of death surrounded him. She knew that he would bring swift and painful retribution to any creature that sought to do him—or anyone he held dear—harm. And whereas that should have put Naya on high alert, instead it only made her want to lower her guard for the first time in her life.

And the thought scared the shit out of her.

“You’re a liability, Ronan.” He needed to lay low until she could decide what to do about him. Crescent City was a tiny town. He’d stick out like a sore thumb and the elders would know all about him by sunup. “I have to be on my toes out there and I won’t be at one hundred percent if I have to keep an eye on you, too.” She added under her breath, “I should just chain you back up to the bed.”