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This time, he was the one to laugh, and that laughter chilled her to the bone. The good guy was totally gone. The demon was in charge, and he was staring at her with bloodlust in his eyes.
He’s going to…kill you.
Oh, damn, it sure looked like he just might.
* * *
Jude Donovan caught the scent of blood in the air. It was a scent that called to him, that tempted him, and one that made the beast inside salivate. Catalina was in sight, and even though the witch was all but flying down the street, she wouldn’t be able to get away from him. He was faster.
But that blood…He turned his head a bit. The scent came from behind him. His nostrils flared. Back to the left.
Where he’d left Zane and his Ignitor.
Hell.
He cast one final glance at Catalina. She was running as if wolves were after her. Or maybe as if a tiger shifter were on her tail. Smart woman.
The blood.
The tiger inside roared, and so did the man. He spun away and thundered back down the road, running after that sweet smell, sucking it deep inside, and pounding across the pavement as he raced back to Zane and Jana.
Blood.
He cut through an alley. Jude came up in the back of the squat, cement building, and he saw Tony ram into the wall.
Jude’s fangs burned in his mouth and his claws burst out. Tony might be an ass sometimes, but nobody hurt his friend, not even?—
Zane. Shit.
Jude snapped his teeth together. No, no, this wasn’t right.
“Fight it,” he heard Jana say, her hands tight on the demon. Were they handcuffed together? Again? “I know the drugs are strong, but you can do this, you can.”
Drugs. No, no, Zane and drugs did not mix. The demon never even touched a cigarette because he was too afraid of the addiction, and of the darkness that the addiction brought.
“Zane!” he barked out his name, hoping to get his friend’s attention.
Zane’s body stiffened. Jude felt a rush of hot wind against his body, and he clenched his muscles. Zane’s head turned toward him. A slow, gliding move, almost like a snake’s. Those eyes…
Oh, dammit. Jude stepped forward. If I ever turn like my old man, kill me. Zane’s quiet voice from so long ago. A late night at Delaney’s bar when secrets had come out. Secrets about drugs, demons, and death. Promise me, you’ll hunt me.
“No!” Jana screamed just as that hot wind rushed against Jude again. This time, that wind picked Jude up like he was a rag doll, and he hurtled through the air. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He lifted his arms and protected his head right before his body thudded into the concrete wall at the back of the building.
“No, Zane! Stop, he’s your friend!”
But Zane wasn’t gonna be stopping. Didn’t she realize? Zane wasn’t in control right then.
I never want to be like him. Him. Zane’s father. The murdering bastard who had slaughtered Zane’s mother.
The tiger snarled inside as the shift pressed ever closer. It would be so easy to change. To let that burning fire of the tiger consume him. Attack. Kill. Protect.
But if he shifted, he and Zane would fight, and dammit, one of them wouldn’t survive.
The hot rush of air came at him again.
One of them might not survive now. Jude’s claws scraped across the cement as he shoved back to his feet. His gaze darted to the left. To the long, thick metal pole that secured the side of that trash bin.
“Zane! Don’t hurt him! Listen to me, listen!”
