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Skye remained silent, not willing to be drawn into whatever the hell was going on between the two of them.
Jagger was slowly trying to shift his body so that she was no longer in front of him, his hands urgent at her waist. Once more he whispered softly into her ear. “You need to get out of here, now.”
The tension in his voice lent credence to the severity of their situation, and Skye felt a myriad of emotions wash over her. On one hand she’d love nothing more than to call to her eagle, shift, and get the hell away from everything.
Aside from the fact that it was impossible for her to do that once the sun had set, she was more than a little surprised to realize she didn’t want to leave Jagger.
At least not here, alone, to face the two deadly otherworlders who stood before them.
The vampire began to move toward them, her long legs not seeming to touch the earth as she drifted across the ground. She stopped a few feet away and hissed, baring her perfect white fangs as she laughed at them.
“You really think you’re going to be able to protect her?”
“I really think we need to finish things and leave Skye the h
ell out of it.”
The vampire’s eyes darkened. “You’re such an arrogant prick. You actually believe Tag and I spent the last week hiking through this fucking jungle because I wanted a piece of you?” She sneered and shook her head. “Typical, but that would be wrong.”
An eerie fog began to drift over the hard, barren ground. It slid along the earth and rock like a snake, moving sensually as it crept closer, caressing the vampire like a lover.
Dani licked her lips and her voice dropped as a cool breeze lifted her long dark hair.
“A call went out on the wire a few days ago.” The vampire nodded toward Skye. “There’s a shitload of mercenaries crawling through this jungle looking for her. She’s worth a small fortune. Tag and I aim to collect.”
Skye’s heart began to beat heavily inside her chest as adrenaline rushed through her body. A fight was imminent, and even though she couldn’t call upon her eagle, she still had enhanced strength and fighting skills.
She wasn’t going down easily.
“The fact that we’ve finally got Jagger Castille in our sights is just an added bonus,” the vampire added as she licked her lips salaciously. “Unexpected, but I’ll take it.”
Jagger shoved Skye behind him. She felt the heat from his body against her cheek and she swore the air shimmered around his form. He was on the cusp of change, his energy dark and dangerous.
Jagger kept his voice light. “Hate to point out the obvious, but dude, you’re gonna have to go through me first.” He growled then. “And though I don’t make a habit out of hitting women, I totally am looking forward to bitch-smacking your white, bony ass.”
Dani’s eyes narrowed into small slits. “This has been a long time coming, Castille. I’ve thought of nothing else since Iraq. Speaking of …” The vampire began to move again, while the demon held back, his eyes glowing brightly in the early-evening gloom.
“You took out half my unit, and for that alone you will pay. Eden’s death was only a small reward.” Her voice deepened and shook as her anger became palpable. “Although I did enjoy hearing her beg for your life, just before I took hers.”
Skye felt Jagger go still. It was one of those moments where the scenery faded into nothing but background noise. The trees still existed, the earth was still warm at her feet, but everything was fuzzy, unclear. The world shrank and became small. So small that the only things she was aware of were the four of them and the deadly game they’d become embroiled in.
“You look surprised. Who did you think was responsible for your lover’s death?” The vampire hissed and growled. “I didn’t drain her, didn’t even go for a nibble. Your scent was all over her and ruined my appetite. But it was my hands that choked the last bit of air from her lungs.”
She began to laugh once more, the sound maniacal. It was harsh and echoed into the darkness. A mess of howler monkeys began to make noise, their excited cries echoing up from the canopy below, adding to the illusion of chaos.
The air changed; electricity crackled along invisible conduits, charging the atmosphere with an eerie glow.
Skye could feel Jagger’s rage. It clung to him like a dark cloud. It was in the way his heart slowed to an ominous beat, the way he shook out his limbs in slow, exaggerated movements.
In that moment she could feel how lethal an animal he was, and she looked up at Dani in time to see something other then hate flicker across her face. Was it fear? Probably not, but the vampire sure as hell knew Jagger was primed and ready for battle.
A million questions shot through her mind but the loudest had nothing whatsoever to do with the impending fight.
It made her angry, the direction of her thoughts, and she shook her head in an effort to purge them from her mind, but it was no use.
Here she was, atop a freaking mountain for God’s sake, with a vampire and demon standing only a few feet away, both of them gunning for her … and the only thing she could think about was the mysterious Eden.
Who the hell was she? And what had she meant to Jagger? The vampire had said they were lovers, but had it been more than that?
