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His face was also changing as he ran, until it resembled something more canine than human. But his torso and his hands remained fully human. I guess a dog’s paws weren’t as dangerous as a human’s fists.
I waited, my knuckles almost white with my grip on the remaining brick, watching his eyes, waiting for his leap. I saw the fury deep in those brown depths and once again tried to ignore the inne
r voice that said I couldn’t do this, that it was better to run.
I’d been trained to fight. Now it was time to put that training to the full test. There were only two of them—it was probably the only opportunity I was going to get at these sort of odds and at getting any answers as to why these people were after me.
He leapt, teeth bared and a low growl rolling up his throat. I jumped from the fence and swiped sideways with the brick. He twisted in midair and the blow swooshed past his side, overbalancing me as I landed. He hit the top of the fence and leapt again, coming straight at me. I brushed my fingers against the concrete to steady myself then twisted around, flinging my arm up and using the brick as a ram. It smashed into his arm and bone snapped, the sound clearly audible above the steady growl of traffic coming from the nearby streets.
He howled—a furious, angry sound—and swung sideways with his other fist. I leaned back, but the blow still caught the edge of my chin, the power of it snapping my head back and dropping me onto my butt. He was on me in an instant, all teeth and hands and ferocity. I blocked several blows with my right arm, tried to ignore the pain of the ones that got through, and smashed the brick into his ribs. He howled again and jerked sideways. I bucked with my body, flinging him off me, then quickly scrambled to my feet. His hands caught the edge of my borrowed sweater and jerked me backward, into his arms.
“Now, my pretty, you are going to tell me what we need to know, or I’m going to enjoy tearing sweet chunks of flesh from your neck.”
“Sorry,” I muttered, “but I don’t talk very well under duress.”
I lashed back with a foot, but he jumped out of the way, his grip tightening against my neck and just about choking me.
“Nasty, nasty,” he whispered, his breath putrid as his lips brushed my neck. “For that, I might just have to provide a little taste of what happens to naughty little girls who attempt to castrate their betters.”
“As interesting as that sounds,” a deep, somewhat amused voice said behind us, “from where I’m standing, her neck actually looks rather fine just as it is. It would be a shame to mar it, don’t you think?”
The dog shifter spun, dragging me around with him, his chunky gold watchband tearing into my neck. The man who’d spoken was tall, broad-shouldered, and golden-haired. And his face … well, beautiful was the only way to describe it. Angels would surely have wept to achieve the same sort of perfection.
And that’s very much what he was—an angel.
Or at least he was the flesh-and-blood counterpart of a myth that ran through time and religion.
He was Aedh.
With that face, and with eyes such a vivid jade green and so filled with power it was almost impossible to stare at them without wincing, he could be nothing else.
Jade eyes, I thought. Not lilac like mine. Not my father.
He could also handle himself. The lion shifter was lying at his feet, his neck twisted at an odd angle. Such casual destruction sent a chill through my soul, but then, if this man was full Aedh, he probably didn’t hold human—or nonhuman—life with any sort of regard.
Not that these two deserved anyone’s regard.
“Who the fuck are you?” the dog shifter spat.
“I’m the man who’s going to kick your ass if you don’t release the lovely lady’s neck.”
His grip tightened, his watch cutting deeper into my skin. Blood began to trickle down my neck, and if I’d had the breath to curse, I would have.
The shifter backed up a step, dragging me with him. His attention was on the stranger more than me, and I knew there was never going to be a better time to break free.
I reached back, grabbed his gonads, and twisted—as hard as I could. He screamed, and his grip around my neck loosened reflexively. I broke free but didn’t release him, spinning around and punching him as hard as I could instead.
I released him then, and he dropped like a stone to the concrete. I blew out a relieved breath and glanced up at the Aedh. He was a good six inches taller than me and solidly built. And he didn’t have wings, which was decidedly odd. Given he was in flesh form, he should have.
“Thank you for the timely intervention.”
He gave me a slight bow, but the grin that teased his full lips was both sensual and amused. “I could hardly walk past and let those men accost such a beautiful woman, now, could I?” He glanced down at the shifter. “Would you like me to finish him off?”
Again that frisson of fear rolled through me, but I swiped it away. These men—as shifters who’d attacked another shifter with the clear intent to harm—would be lucky to last through the night once I called Uncle Rhoan. The Directorate had gotten harsher over recent years, and while death had once applied only to nonhumans who’d murdered, the increase in street violence had meant those boundaries had been eased in recent years. The trouble was, it hadn’t done a whole lot to reduce the aggressive tendencies of those on the streets.
“Thanks, but I need to question him.”
“Then permit me to at least break his leg. That way, you’ll be in no danger from him.” He hesitated, his gaze briefly sweeping me before rising to meet mine again. Amusement, and something else—something heated and primal—began to burn bright in those jade depths. The warmth of it flooded my senses, and the embers of need and desire stirred. He added, in tones that suddenly seemed a whole lot lower and sexier, “You can obviously handle yourself, but I’d hate to see you with bruises—or worse—when we go on our date.”
