Page 4 of A Curse in Darkness

“You’re going to have to help me,” I said.

The howl came again, closer.

Screw clothes. The alpha hellhound had been getting more and more possessive lately and I couldn’t deal with his crap right then. “How far away is your car?”

“Not far,” Ren said as he shoved my sweater over my head, that at least covered my butt, and handed me my dagger.

I gripped it as tightly as I could manage.

“I’ll finish dressing on the road.”

His jaw tightened. “Right. This way.”

We stumbled through the woods, Ren all but carrying me since the venom was still pumping through my veins. He walked quicker every time one of those bloodcurdling howls echoed through the trees behind us.

Something moved just ahead, followed by a high-pitched screech.

The dagger vibrated in my hand, not a gentle warning but a shriek, telling me that someone was going to hurt me, badly, like lights out forever bad.

“What the fuck is that?” Ren said.

Adrenaline surged through my weakened body, and when a demon ran at us, huge maw wide, serrated teeth dripping with rusty-colored drool, I threw out a hand and tree roots burst through the ground, wrapping around his ankle, stopping him in his tracks. I let my blade fly and it imbedded in its throat with a thud. The demon dropped to the ground, gurgling and flailing, and I closed the space between us.

“Hold him still,” I said to Ren, too weak to do it myself.

Ren paused, but only a split second before he rushed forward and kneeled on the demon’s twitching body.

Using the last of my strength, I hacked through its throat. Muscle was needed to take off a demon’s head, and right then, mine were spasming and useless. So with pure, raw determination—finesse be damned—I kept at it. Blood sprayed us both, and Ren made a gagging sound. Its head finally rolled aside and the demon turned to ash—something that happened when you liberated one of these bastards of their craniums.

“Okay?” I asked him.

“Totally.”

He was so lying.

Helping me back up, we struggled on.

Witches drew their power from one of the four elements. Wind, water, fire, and earth. And on the rare occasion, a witch was gifted with more than one. Mine were earth and wind. I could manipulate the plants and trees, I could cause a good shake when I wanted to, and I’d been known to throw the odd rock or boulder when necessary. And the wind, she was my bitch. Some witches had specialized powers, like Iris, who could communicate with animals—or was learning to, it was a fairly new power for her—and our cousin Zinnia, who could commune with the dead. I’d never been so glad to have been gifted with the little extra I’d been born with than in the last few months.

Finally, Ren’s Toyota Camry came into view. He helped me in, rushed around to the driver’s side, got in, and started the engine—

What felt like a truck hit the side, metal crunching, the tires sliding half a yard on the deserted road. Ren bit out a curse, put the car in gear, and sped off.

His gaze sliced to me, his handsome face slashed by shadows and moonlight. “What the hell, Willow?”

“I guess he wanted me to stay and talk?” I glanced in the rearview mirror and Warrick, alpha of the hellhounds, stood in the middle of the road, no longer in his beast form but as a man, huge and naked. And judging by the glowing red eyes, pissed off.

“I thought you were going to talk to him?” Ren said. “Just because the guy has the ability to know where you are at all times, doesn’t mean it’s cool to act like a stalker. And he just messed up my freaking car.”

“I’ll get it fixed, and I’ve tried, believe me.” The alpha did whatever the hell he wanted. I’d turned him down every way it was possible to turn someone down, but since hellhounds could see where a person was by their scent, he always knew where I was. And he wasn’t giving up.

Ren gripped the wheel tighter and scowled. “I don’t care about the car…I’ll talk to him.”

Lord, spare me from overprotective males. Between Ren and Warrick—and the half angel, demon hunter knights of Hell, who also happened to be my good friends—I was up to my neck in a serious amount of testosterone.

I glanced at him. “And what are you going to say?”

“I’ll tell him to stay the hell away from you.”